Journey Volume One: First Steps
by Jed Rhodes
Summary: One night, two years after the defeat of Salem, Jaune Arc brings a baby to Taiyang's doorstep, a child born in unusual circumstances. Now seventeen, that child must face her origins, as new enemies rise up once more to threaten Remnant's peace.
1. Prologue

**JOURNEY**

 **Volume One: First Steps.**

 **Prologue**

* * *

 **3rd November, year 88 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad). **

**2am.**

It was raining when two figures limped towards the old house. They both wore cloaks over their clothes, obscuring most of their frames: one was taller, a black cloak slung across their body, and the other was shorter, with her red cloak flapping in the wind behind her, revealing her corset and dress.

"You're sure about this?" the black-clad figure asked the red-clad figure: the voice was male, earnest in its own way, but filled with worry.

"Sure?" the woman replied, her voice high pitched and soft. "No. But what else can we do?"

"We can still go to the authorities," the man said quietly. "If they knew what happened -"

"If they knew what happened, _we'd_ probably get arrested," the girl said with a twinge of wry humour. "I mean, given everything…"

Her voice trailed off, and the two trudged in silence towards the house. After a moment, the woman passed the man a small bundle she had been carrying beneath the folds of her cloak, and the man sighed.

"You're not going to at least say goodbye?" he asked quietly.

"No," she replied. "I… I think if I tried, he'd never let me go."

"Yeah," the man said after a moment. "I guess I see what you mean."

Without another word, he trudged onwards alone towards the wooden house. The woman turned away, her eyes alighting on the house, before she walked off, disappearing into the woods that surrounded the house.

* * *

Taiyang Xiao Long was staring at the ceiling of his bedroom when he heard the bang on his door. He didn't sleep very well these days. He supposed he couldn't be blamed for that: one wife had abandoned him, another had died. Neither of his daughters had been back home in months, and both were in the same, incredibly dangerous line of work that had killed his second wife.

The banging at the door was actually a welcome respite from his thoughts, even if it was a little louder than he would have necessarily liked for 2am. As if to punctuate his thoughts, another round of banging sounded.

"Alright, alright!" he said grouchily. "I'll be there in a minute! Jeez…"

He got out of bed, before trudging down the stairs, feeling grouchy. Another round of banging served only to irritate him further.

"Alright!" he yelled, pulling the door open, only to blink in surprise at the sight which greeted him.

Standing in the doorway was a tall, muscular blonde man, maybe half Taiyang's age, sporting a scruffy beard and damp hair and wearing a long black cloak over battered armour. The most interesting thing about this man, though, was the small bundle he was holding.

Taiyang's mouth worked silently for a moment in shock.

"Mr Xiao Long," the man said quietly.

"Jaune Arc?!" Taiyang finally exclaimed. "You - you're - what are you doing here at this hour?"

Arc smiled wryly. "Uh, would you believe that circumstances demanded it?"

Taiyang sighed. "Y'know, I'd say no, but I'm not a liar." His eyes alighted on the bundle. "What's that?"

Arc sighed. "Maybe we should go inside."

Taiyang stepped aside and let Arc walk in, the younger man trailing mud and water into the house. Normally Taiyang might have cared, but he had a sudden bad feeling that made mud seem like something of a non-issue. A moment later, his feeling was confirmed when Arc dropped his cloak on the floor - revealing the dark haired baby he was carrying, asleep in his arms in a red swaddling cloth.

"What the hells?!" Taiyang hissed, eyes widening.. "Where - who - how -"

"Mr Xiao Long," Arc said, holding up a prosthetic hand that whirred slightly. "Please. Calm down."

"Calm down?!" Taiyang whispered, still looking at the baby. "Why do you have a baby?!"

"I'll explain everything as best I can, but you need to relax," Arc said quietly. "This is a really, _really_ complicated thing to have to explain."

"I'll just bet," Taiyang said heavily. He frowned. "Wait - Ruby said she was meeting up with you and Weiss. Does this have something to do with that?"

Arc's expression became somber. "You… might wanna sit down."

* * *

When Arc had finished speaking, Taiyang's expression was blank. He didn't know what to think, what to say. What the younger man had told him…

"So," he said after a moment. "She's not coming back."

Arc shrugged. "I don't know _what_ she's gonna do."

Taiyang sighed, putting his head in his hands. "And she's left me with - with -"

"With Jo," Arc supplied helpfully, still holding the baby. She was sleeping peacefully.

"It's hard to believe," Taiyang said quietly. "What you've told me doesn't seem physically possible."

Arc smiled wryly. "Yeah, that's what I said, but there you go."

Taiyang looked at the sleeping baby, struggling to feel anything other than sadness. She was a beautiful child - but she heralded yet another of the important people in his life choosing to leave him. He closed his eyes.

"So," he said quietly. "You want _me_ to take her."

"Ruby thought it was best," Arc said quietly. He looked down at the sleeping baby, a soft smile on his face. "She… she thought you'd be the best dad for her."

"You've got kids already," Taiyang pointed out. "They're pretty young still, you'd -"

"People would ask questions about me and Pyrrha suddenly having a third child," Arc said quietly. "She's still under a lot of scrutiny, after all."

Taiyang nodded slowly. "I suppose she would be." He frowned. "Still. Leaving me with this… this…"

"Baby," Arc said firmly. "This baby girl, who deserves more than she was going to get. Who deserves a _family_. Ruby trusted _you_ to give her the love she deserves, and no one else."

Taiyang looked Arc in the eyes. "And I won't betray that trust. But this girl also deserves to know the _truth_."

Arc's expression became more morose. "You're right. She does. Ruby's written a letter for her, you can give her that when you think she's ready."

"A _letter_ ," Taiyang repeated. "You think explaining all this in a _letter_ will do."

"No," Arc admitted. "I think you, personally, should explain this to her. Yourself. But only you will know when the time's right."

Taiyang sighed, shaking his head. "You know, I wish Ruby would have come herself to tell me all of this, since she's essentially dumping a grandchild on me with no warning."

Arc smirked. "Well, what can I say? She didn't think you'd let her leave."

"And she'd have been right," Taiyang said. He held out his hands, and Arc carefully lifted the baby and handed her to the older man, still wrapped in the red swaddle. For a moment, Taiyang could only look down at the baby with a small smile on his face as she stirred.

"I guess good luck is in order," Arc said quietly as he stood up, retrieving his black cloak. "Remember, whatever else you do, try to keep quiet about her. We don't know who else may be watching out for her after what's happened."

Taiyang nodded slowly. "Alright. I'll bear that in mind."

Arc paused, looking like he wanted to say something more, before turning to leave. The door creaked and slammed, the rain still pelting the world outside.

At the sound of the door banging closed, the little girl stirred, before letting out a soft moan of complaint. Taiyang sighed.

 _Jo_ , he thought quietly. _Well, kid, this is certainly going to be… interesting._


	2. One: Wondergirl

**One**

 **Wondergirl**

* * *

 **Vale city, 10th July, year 106 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad).**

The city was always bustling with activity this time of year. Students from Beacon and Signal were in their summer holiday period now, and there were often roaming crowds of students wandering around, enjoying their freedom for the next month and a half.

Yorik Danes couldn't find himself enjoying his holiday as much as the rest of his peers. The blonde-haired boy was sat on a bench at Xiao Long Station, waiting for the next train, his family fencing flambert girt awkwardly at his side. The station was one of a host of new constructions built for the 20th anniversary of the Fang Insurrection's ending, and the shiny tiles, shinier benches and general atmosphere of 'new building smell' definitely brought a sense of the money that had been spent building it. Not that Yorik needed much of a sense, since it had largely been his father's money.

 _Well, Dad, they finished it,_ he thought with a mental snort. _Yippee._

He lounged back on the bench. He had been out on the town, supposedly to have a shopping trip and day out (at his Uncle's suggestion), but he hadn't managed to buy anything. He was vaguely wondering whether he'd be able to get away with saying there wasn't anything he wanted, but that would imply that he'd been to anywhere to look. Most of his day had been spent in a bar, drinking.

 _Hey, it was a 20th anniversary bar,_ he mentally defended himself, smirking at his own joke. _I was just making sure the money was properly spent._ His smirk soured as the train before his pulled into the station slowly, the soft whirring of its engine slowly dying. _Ah, and now we get to go for a ride._

The new trains were branded with the Danes logo, a stylised D superimposed over an ornate, fancy-looking castle. Yorik scowled. His father's company had been investing in a lot of new construction, and while it was benefitting the community, Yorik couldn't help but feel a twinge of irritation. Not at the investment – he was actually quite pleased at that, since his father had been very enthusiastic about the idea – but rather at the fact that his father wasn't around to see it. The elder Danes had been dead now for almost two months, leaving the company (for the moment at least) tended by Yorik's uncle.

 _Well,_ Yorik thought with a sigh, as the train disgorged its passengers. _I guess there's nothing I can do now. At least today's been quiet._

Predictably, that was when the front of the train chose to explode.

* * *

A man in an expensive suit was sat in a cafe some one hundred and fifty metres from the train station when the sound of the explosion came through. He glanced at his watch and frowned, tapping it, before sighing.

 _Goddamn cheapskates,_ he thought to himself. _I should start importing black-market Atlesian again, at least then the goddamn timers would work properly._

He had been hoping to finish his coffee before the explosion happened, maybe walk off. He had also been hoping that the train would have set off with a brand new bunch of passengers aboard, just ready to die in a horrific tragedy.

 _Would have been great news material,_ the suited man thought. _Real headline drama. Still, I guess this'll do. Though,_ he mused with a shrug as people started panicking and running all around him, trying to go see what had happened, _since Lisa Lavender retired the media's been nowhere_ near _as honest..._

* * *

The first thing that Yorik was acutely aware of was the sharp ringing in his ears. He was lying flat on his back. Something warm and sticky was dripping down from his forehead, and he reached up to feel blood dripping from a cut above his left eyebrow.

 _Aura must have gotten exhausted by the blast,_ he thought dimly. He tried sitting up despite a wave of dizziness, and found himself coughing. _Smoke. There's smoke on the air._

Finally sitting himself up, he blinked, before his eyes widened in horror.

The front car had exploded, twisted metal and fragments of glass scattering across the platform. Several people had been caught in the explosion, and Yorik averted his gaze from them - or rather, what was _left_ of them. He found himself feeling a wave of nausea, but he pushed past it.

He had people to help.

He moved to stand, and a member of the station's emergency services rushed up to him.

"Are you alright?" the man asked quickly.

"F-fine," Yorik replied unsteadily. "Help someone else, I'll live."

The man nodded his understanding with a grateful expression and dashed off to help a man who had a large piece of shrapnel embedded in his side. Yorik looked to the next car along from the engine. The door was open and civilians were staggering out, many of whom seemed injured, distressed or both.

Closing his eyes and concentrating, Yorik _split._ To the outside observer, there were suddenly two Yorik's, both acting independently of each other, moving to help survivors get off of the train carriage with strong hands and calming words. Yorik's semblance was an unusual one - he'd heard it described as a kind of quantum uncertainty, where he both was and was not in two places at once, doing two completely different things - but in this case it allowed him to assist these people twice as fast.

As the majority of the injured managed to get off, he relaxed his concentration, and suddenly he was one Yorik again. He shook his head, ignoring the strange feeling of having two distinct sets of memories, and looked to see if he had forgotten anyone.

"My baby!" someone was crying. He turned, to see a woman whose leg had been trapped under a crumpled metal bulkhead screaming in distress. He moved over to her.

"Ma'am, I'm going to need you to hold still," he said, drawing his sword. "I'm going to break this bulkhead from the main part of the train so it's easier to move."

"Hold up!" a voice called. A girl Yorik's age with black hair dashed up to the two. "I can hold this so the weight doesn't hurt her leg more!"

"Good idea," Yorik said, though he frowned. "You sure you can hold it?"

The girl grinned at him. "Sure. Just get cuttin'."

Yorik found himself smirking, before bringing his sword up. The weapon was an old Dust-enhanced flambert, named 'Ophelia's Tears' after an ancestor who had committed suicide. Yorik had started carrying it everywhere after his father had died, which right now he was incredibly grateful for. He loaded a chamber of strength-enhancing Dust and slashed once, then again, the metal bulkhead creaking and squealing as it came apart. True to her word, the girl managed to hold the metal in place, before heaving it off of the woman in one motion with only a slight grunt of effort.

"Damn," she said. "That was heavy stuff."

Yorik blinked. "Semblance?"

"Yeah," the girl replied with a grin. "How'd you g-"

"My baby!" the woman they'd been saving yelled, moving from between them but letting out a cry of pain as her injured leg gave from beneath her. "My baby, my baby's in there!"

She pointed, and Yorik turned, his heart sinking as he realised the woman was pointing to the door leading to the engine-car's cabin.

"Your child was in there?!" the girl said, shock lacing her voice.

"She's only little, but she loves trains," the woman said quickly. "The driver was so kind…"

Yorik's expression turned grim. The door of the cabin was warped and buckled - there'd be no way for them to manually open it, even if the child was somehow still alive in there.

"Well," he heard the girl say from next to him, her tone surprisingly matter-of-fact. "I'd better get her out."

Yorik was about to comment on the impossibility, but the girl brushed past him before he could say another word, walking up to the door and grabbing at the handle.

"It won't open, it's warped," Yorik told her, but she ignored him, pulling at the handle. To Yorik's surprise, the metal creaked and squeaked, as though it was actually moving, but the door stayed fast.

"Hells," the girl swore, before stepping back.

"We can find another way," Yorik told her.

"Yeah, we can," she agreed .

And then she brought her fist back and punched through the door, her fist going straight through the metal like it was plywood. Yorik's eyes widened in shock as she punched her other fist through the door, and _pulled._ The door gave a final squeal of protest, and then came away from the doorway with a crash. Almost gently, the girl put the door next to the ruined doorway, before stepping into the smoke filled cabin.

Yorik waited a moment, not sure how to react, and then suddenly, coughing as she did so, the girl stepped out, carrying a little girl no older than six from the cabin. Amazingly, she looked to still be breathing.

"The -" she began, before coughing, "the driver… he shielded her. He was…"

Yorik nodded grimly, taking the unconscious little girl from her and turning to the mother, who was sobbing with relief.

"Thank you," she murmured as Yorik handed her the child.

"Don't thank me," Yorik replied, "it was…"

He turned, but the girl had disappeared. Frowning, Yorik turned back to the mother and excused himself, leaving as more emergency services ran onto the train to help.

Where had that girl gone?

* * *

On the platform, an unremarkable man stood, watching the chaos unfold. Emergency services dashed around him, as though they couldn't even see him. No one looked his way, even as he observed tears, determination, frustration, anger, all the emotions of the spectrum.

 _Oh, the bomb exploding here was_ much _better,_ he thought to himself.

He took a long, slow breath, and smiled, and then he was gone, as though he had never been there.

* * *

Yorik ran out of the station, looking to see where the girl who'd helped him might have gone. He barged past emergency services as they rushed to help survivors, past police cordons and terrified civilians, past the media as they arrived, cameras flashing and reporters fixing their hair. And then he saw her - blue jumpsuit covered in soot, dark hair, walking at brisk pace away from the station.

The girl walked towards the harbour, no one paying her any attention. After all, why would they? She was unremarkable, and there were bigger fish to fry.

"Hey!" Yorik called after her. " _Hey!_ Wait up!"

She ignored him, or maybe didn't realise he was talking to her. Frowning, Yorik tapped into his semblance, and suddenly he was standing in front of her. She stopped, eyes widening in shock at the sight of him simply appearing, and she settled into what might have been a sloppy guard stance.

Yorik held up his hands. "I'm not here to hurt you, I just want to talk."

She relaxed. "You… you were the guy in two places at once. At the station, the one who helped save that woman."

Yorik smiled. "That's right. And _you_ were the girl who pulled a train door off like it was nothing."

She straightened up a little. "Uh, yeah. So?"

"So?" Yorik repeated. "So, you're a hero! Why aren't you still there? There's probably a dozen people wanting to thank you!"

The girl brushed one strand of her short hair behind her ear. "I didn't - I mean, I don't need thanks."

"Well sure, you don't _need_ thanks, but you've got to admit, it'd be nice," Yorik laughed. "Come on! My family owns those trains, I'm sure my uncle would want to give you -"

She shook her head vehemently, cutting him off. "Really, it's ok. I'm not really a fan of crowds anyway."

Yorik slowly nodded. "Well, alright. I… guess I'll see you at Beacon, then?"

"Beacon?" the girl repeated with a puzzled frown. "Why would you see me at Beacon?"

"Well, you're a student there, aren't you?" Yorik asked. "Or you're going to start soon - or are you still at Signal, or one of the other intermediary academies?" When she didn't respond he frowned. "Or did you already graduate?"

The girl shook her head. "I'm not a Huntress. I've never attended an academy, and I'm not going to Beacon."

"Not _go-_ " Yorik began, catching himself. "How can you be _not going_? You're - you -"

"I never wanted to be a Huntress," the girl said with a shrug. "I mean I thought about it, a bit. Sort of, you know, 'that'd be cool, but nah', y'know?"

"'Nah'?" Yorik repeated flatly. "But your Aura is unlocked, isn't it? That's what that was - you pulling the door off, that was your semblance?"

The girl rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "Well, yeah, but that's been unlocked since I was very young. I don't really remember _not_ having it."

"Well then… how can you _not_ be a Huntress?" Yorik asked. "I mean… you're strong. You could help so many people."

"Huntsmen just kill Grimm, though," the girl replied with a frown.

Yorik laughed. "Well, that's what most of them do, yeah, but the job is about keeping people safe. Helping people. I think that matters to you."

The girl frowned. "What makes you say that?"

"You _ran onto a burning train_ ," Yorik replied incredulously. "Come on, no one does that unless they've got a death wish or they genuinely want to help people."

She blinked, as though this had honestly never occurred to her.

"Well," she said after a moment, "I guess…"

"Look," Yorik said, reaching into his pocket and taking out a business card (his uncle _insisted_ he carry one). "I'm Yorik Danes. Whether you come to Beacon this year or not, if you need _anything,_ you let me know."

He turned to head back to the station - from there he'd be able to get his uncle to send someone.

"Oh, by the way," he added, turning to look at her again, "I didn't catch your name."

"Jo," the girl replied simply, giving him a friendly wave. "My name's Jo."

"Nice to meet you, Jo," Yorik said with a smile. He turned and walked off, hoping he'd not heard the last of this girl.

* * *

 **Patch Island.**

It was late when Jo got back to the island. The boats had been delayed due to the disaster at the station, so the night had drawn in when the girl finally reached the old homestead. It had started raining, too, which wasn't exactly brilliant.

To her surprise, waiting for her in the doorway was her father, his short, whitening-blonde hair wet from the rain, his arms folded.

"Jo," he greeted conversationally. "Had a long day?"

"Uh, kinda?" Jo said with a weak chuckle. "Um, sorry I didn't call, my scroll ran out of power a while ago…"

"Oh, don't worry," Taiyang said with a sardonic grin. "I've been keeping some tabs."

Jo gave her adopted father a frown, but it became clear when she stepped into the house. The news was on, and a reported was interviewing a woman at the scene of the explosion - more specifically, the woman whose child Jo had saved.

" _She… she was amazing, some sort of wonder girl!"_ the woman was sobbing. " _She pulled the door clean off!"_

The reporter came back onto the screen. " _So there you have it - one small miracle in what will surely go down as one of the worst disasters since the Fang Insurrection ended. The question remains as to how the explosion happened - Claude Danes of the Danes Corporation has released a statement saying that they do not believe at this time that a mechanical fault was responsible, leading to questions about whether this was a terrorist attack, and even questions as to whether the White Fang's remnants were involved. When we reached out to Blake Belladonna of the Menagerie Council, however, she decli-"_

The screen went off, and Jo turned her attention back to Taiyang, whose arms were folded, his expression wryly amused, but very, very tired.

"So," he said. "You got caught up in the disaster, and helped some people out."

"Uh, yeah," she said, chuckling nervously. "I mean, it's good, right?"

Taiyang sighed and nodded. "It is, and I'm proud of you for helping out."

Jo beamed at the praise.

"Though," Taiyang continued, "if these sorts of troubles are starting again, I might start keeping you on the island. We shouldn't get involved with big things like that."

Jo frowned. "What do you mean?"

Taiyang threw her a sideways glance. "I mean, 'we shouldn't get involved'. _I've_ given enough to whatever cause you care to mention. If the reporter is right and they think White Fang or whoever was involved - well, basically, to hells with that. We can wait it out on Patch."

He walked past her, heading to the kitchen. Jo frowned.

"What's got into you, Dad?" she asked.

Taiyang didn't answer for a moment, instead grabbing a can of beer from the fridge. "I just… seeing that stuff on the news reminds me a lot of the… the 'Insurrection'."

Jo didn't say anything. It was rare for Taiyang to speak about the Insurrection. All Jo knew was that he, his brother in law and his daughters had all fought in it. She had never met either of his biological daughters, and he didn't speak of them much.

"But it doesn't concern us, anyway," Taiyang finished quietly. "It doesn't concern us."

Jo swallowed. "Um, Dad, can I ask you something?"

Taiyang sighed, before looking at her. "What?"

"Uh," Jo said quietly, "how - um… if I wanted to go to Beacon, what would I have to do?"

Taiyang blinked once. Then again. Finally, he took another swig of his beer, before putting it down.

" _WHAT?!"_


	3. Two: Who You Choose To Be

**Two**

 **Who You Choose To Be**

* * *

 **Patch Island, 10th July, year 106 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad).**

In all honesty, he'd taken it rather well. Jo had explained that the boy she had met - Yorik Danes, a name which had drawn a raised eyebrow from Taiyang - had told her she should be a Huntress, and in all honesty, the idea had gained some traction with her.

"You want to be a Huntress," Taiyang said again once Jo had finished. " _You_ want to be a _Huntress_."

Jo nodded. "I - well, it's not like I've never thought about it before. It's crossed my mind once or twice over the last couple of years…"

"It's not exactly a career that you 'just go for', though," Taiyang said, shaking his head. "You need commitment, focus, perseverance…"

"I can have those things," Jo told him earnestly. "I can!"

"I _know_ you can," Taiyang placated, holding up a hand, "but you also need to be well trained. You and I occasionally sparring for fun isn't the same as training for real."

"But - but you were a Huntsman, weren't you?" Jo asked. "So you could help me!"

Taiyang sighed. "I… look, when it comes to the training, I might be able to get you up to speed so you're not massively behind, _if_ you focus, _if_ you push yourself and _if_ you listen to what I tell you."

Jo nodded. "I promise."

"As for getting you into Beacon for _this_ semester…" Taiyang continued, before running a hand through his hair. "Let me make a call. I have… _some pull_ with the deputy head, shall we say. He's in charge of admissions."

Jo beamed, before hugging Taiyang tightly. "Thanks, Dad!"

"Just go to bed, Jo," Taiyang said with a sigh and a chuckle. "You've had enough excitement for one day."

Jo nodded and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Taiyang alone. The older man closed his eyes, feeling the weight of years crushing down on him,

 _First Summer and Raven, then Qrow, then Ruby and Yang,_ he thought, fighting the desire for another beer. _Now even Jo. How many more of my family will decide to waste their lives, to_ die _-?!_

He cut off that line of thought. It had been their decisions, and he had always promised himself that, no matter what he thought of them, he'd support the choices his children made. He'd suffer whatever pain losing them gave him in silence, because they needed him to be here. He would let them make their own way.

 _Even if_ this _child is… a little different,_ Taiyang thought with a deep breath.

No matter. He had a favour to ask.

* * *

Jaune Arc's scroll was ringing, but he didn't hear it.

His wife was in the middle of a round of Pugna Purgo exercises, and he couldn't help but watch her as she moved, her still-lean body, muscular and developed, visible through the white training gear she wore. Every so often, he noticed a little smirk on his wife's otherwise impassive face - she knew he was watching.

"Looking good, dear," he said playfully, his right hand reaching up to stroke his beard mock-thoughtfully.

"I figured as much," Pyrrha replied steadily. "Nice to know I'm still catching your eye."

"Well, there's only one to catch these days," he replied. He winced at Pyrrha's brief pained expression. "Uh, sorry, dear."

"It's alright," she replied. "And the patch _does_ add a certain flair…"

"Dad!" his son, Augur, called, distracting Jaune from his conversation. "Your scroll is ringing! Says it's… some Taiyang person!"

Jaune turned his head. "Bring the scroll here, 'Gur!"

His son was the spitting image of Jaune himself when he was younger, dressed in a loose-fitting t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms. He passed Jaune the scroll with a bored expression.

"Faye not around to help you train?" Jaune asked.

"She just wants to train on her own and practice her katas," Augur replied sullenly. "Which is fine. I can get some reading in."

"Well, keep your practice up," Pyrrha said idly. "You don't want to fall behind." She winced as she did the final motion of her exercise. "Dear, when you're done with your conversation, I need my dose."

Jaune nodded. "I'll try not to be long - Gods know what Tai wants after all this time."

He walked into the kitchen, before answering the call.

"Hey Tai," he began. "Been a while."

 _"Jaune,"_ Taiyang's voice said. The tone was grim, and Jaune frowned immediately. _"Something's come up with Jo."_

"With _Jo_?" Jaune repeated. He lowered his voice. "What?"

 _"She was involved with the explosion in Vale city,"_ Taiyang said, _"and -"_

"The what?" Jaune asked, eye widening.

 _"Crap, sorry, forgot you don't keep that up to date,"_ Taiyang said. _"There was an explosion at Xiao Long station."_

"Gods, that's insane," Jaune whispered. "Is Jo alright?"

 _"Yeah, she's fine,"_ Taiyang reassured him. _"She helped save a kid from a burning car."_

Jaune chuckled. "Huh. Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Or trees."

 _"That's not the problem,"_ Taiyang said _. "Some guy_ saw _her do it, and apparently he filled her head with the idea of becoming a Huntress."_

Jaune cursed under his breath. "You're kidding."

 _"Nope,"_ Taiyang said easily.

"And you talked her out of it, right?" Jaune asked.

 _"That… would be a no,"_ Taiyang admitted grudgingly. _"Actually I… may have told her I'd talk to you about admitting her to Beacon."_

Jaune blinked. "You did _what_?"

" _Look, I promised to raise her, and part of that is me letting her make her own choices,_ " Taiyang told the man. " _Including this one._ "

Jaune didn't bother mentioning how bad this _particular_ choice was - they weren't exactly talking about getting a tattoo.

Still, he _had_ been one of those that entrusted Jo to the man. It wouldn't have been very fair (not that anything about the situation had been _fair_ ) to do that if he wasn't willing to let him raise her how he saw fit. Still, this was a big deal.

"You know it's dangerous, for her especially," he said.

 _"Yeah, yeah, I know,"_ Taiyang replied. _"Which is why I'm talking to you. If she doesn't get Beacon she might try for Haven or Shade, where you_ aren't _handily a teacher who knows her story and who's able to watch out for her."_

Jaune had to admit, he had a point. He sighed, realising that he couldn't take his old friend out of this.

"Is she trained?" he asked finally.

 _"She'll be adequate,"_ Taiyang replied.

Jaune groaned. "'Adequate' isn't reassuring."

 _"I know it's not,"_ Taiyang told him, _"but it's all I've got. You got by ok, from what I heard."_

"I had Pyrrha," Jaune pointed out, irritated that Taiyang had brought that up.

 _"And Jo will hopefully have friends, too,"_ Taiyang said patiently. _"I think she's serious about wanting to do this."_

"Oh, I believe you," Jaune said quietly. "I just wish I didn't." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "She's under your family name, right?"

 _"That's right,"_ Taiyang confirmed.

"And you swear to me that she'll be ready?" Jaune asked. "As in, _ready_?"

 _"I swear,"_ Taiyang said firmly.

Jaune sighed. "Alright then. I'll add her to the admissions list under 'sponsorships'. It's a slow year for admissions anyway, so it'll be good to have more kids joining."

 _"I'm glad you think so,"_ Taiyang said with a snort. _"I'll give her the good news in the morning. You'll let me know if anything changes?"_

"Of course," Jaune promised.

 _"Alright, good,"_ Taiyang said quietly. There was a pause. _"I… uh, haven't told her, yet."_

Jaune frowned. "You _haven't_."

 _"You said to do it when the time is right,"_ Taiyang replied. _"And funnily enough, the time hasn't been."_

"She hasn't asked?" Jaune asked.

 _"Been rather content with living here,"_ Taiyang said lightly. _"I mean, I guess it might have occurred to her, but she's never brought it up. Not that I'm complaining. It's not like I know exactly what 'the right time' would be to tell someone -"_

"Tai," Jaune cut him off. "Don't worry about it. If anything it'll be better. If she doesn't know it, there's no way she can reveal it to anyone who might be on the lookout for a girl her age at an Academy."

There was a momentary silence before Taiyang spoke again. _"You think they'd go that far?"_

"Of course I do," Jaune replied grimly. "Infiltration isn't impossible, you and I _both_ know that, and much as I'd like to hope our vetting process would catch it, it _won't_. Not if they're clever."

 _"You're… not making me feel any better about this,"_ Taiyang said drolly.

"Good, because I'm not trying to," Jaune said quietly. "Better you know the truth."

 _"Yeah,"_ Taiyang said after a moment. _"I guess you're right."_

There was a pause.

 _"One last thing,"_ Taiyang finally said. _"You - uh, you haven't heard from…?"_

Jaune's heart sank. "No, Tai. I'm sorry."

Taiyang sighed. _"Figured. Well, night Jaune. And thanks."_

"Any time," Jaune said, and the call ended. He leaned against the kitchen wall, before rubbing his face with his good hand.

"Bad news?" came Pyrrha's voice from the kitchen doorway.

"Jo," Jaune said with elaborating, and Pyrrha nodded slowly.

"And you don't want to tell me any more because you're worrying," she said quietly.

"You need a dose, you said so yourself," Jaune said, turning to face a nearby cupboard. He retrieved a small bottle and poured a shot glass of an ugly-looking green liquid. "Aggravating stuff isn't a good idea."

Pyrrha made a soft 'hmm'ing noise, a frown creeping across her face. "And not telling me things is supposed to 'not aggravate' me?"

Jaune passed her the shotglass, frowning at her pale complexion. "Point made, but first, drink."

Pyrrha took the glass, her expression less than impressed, but she took a sip of the drink, then another, then finally she finished the entire glass with a grimace. After a moment, her complexion became a little less bloodless, and she sighed.

"Better?" Jaune asked.

"Better," Pyrrha repeated. She put the glass down. "So - Jo?"

Jaune sighed and explained what Taiyang had told him. Pyrrha frowned at the mention of the explosion, but said nothing until her husband had finished.

"You're still not convinced," she commented when he was done.

"No," he agreed. "Far from it, really. We never shut that place down, Pyrrha. We found Jo, we did some damage, but we didn't stop them."

Pyrrha made another 'hmm'ing noise. "I could try -"

Jaune held up a hand. "Don't."

Pyrrha frowned. "Jaune, with the medicine the attacks -"

"That's with the stress of being at home, where you have your exercises and your garden and there's no chance of anything going wrong," Jaune cut her off. "But in action? In _battle_? The medicine won't hold it back at _all_ then, and you _know_ it."

Pyrrha sighed. This was an old argument.

"Look," Jaune said, "chances are they've never kept track of her. It's been years. She'll be fine, and like Tai said, I'll be there, _and_ Glynda, _and_ Toshiro and Richard and - well, whoever that new guy is that Glynda's hiring to replace Port."

Pyrrha nodded slowly. "You know what you're doing, I suppose."

"Nope," Jaune admitted cheerfully. "But being a clueless idiot got me you, and Faye and Augur. It's seen me right so far."

Pyrrha smiled and leaned forward. "I guess it has." She kissed him lightly on the lips, before smirking. "You need to shave."

"I happen to think this beard gives me an air of natural authority," Jaune said with a snort.

"You don't have to kiss it," Pyrrha countered playfully.

"Oh Gods!" Augur's voice came from the doorway. The blonde boy looked pale and nauseous as he walked past his parents, going quickly for the fridge. "Retrieving milk and retreating. If I'd known you guys were employing biological warfare in here -"

"Hey, how do you think _you_ were made, bucko?" Jaune asked, folding his arms with a cheeky grin.

"I _think_ the answer to that question would scar me forever," Augur replied before exiting the room.

Pyrrha chuckled. "Children, eh?"

"Yeah," Jaune smirked. His expression softened at Pyrrha's wistful look. "What's up?"

"Just thinking," she said quietly. "The house is going to be lonely without you all."

Jaune sighed and smiled, hugging his wife. "I'll call every day, and I'll… make them call as often as I can make two teenagers do _anything_."

"I'll never see them again," Pyrrha said with a mock-doleful expression.

* * *

 **Patch Island, 11th July.**

When Jo woke up and got dressed the next morning, she found Taiyang waiting for her, his arms crossed and a determined expression on his face.

"Alright," he said matter-of-factly. "If we're doing this, I've got a few rules."

Jo nodded, folding her arms to match his stance.

"First," her father said, holding up one finger. "You give it your all, one hundred and twenty percent, no holding back. I want you to be at your best, which means you need to _show_ me your best."

"Yes, Dad," Jo said solemnly.

"Secondly," Taiyang continued, holding up another finger. "Like I said: you need commitment, focus and perseverance, among other things. If I for _one second_ think that you don't have what it takes to be a Huntress, I'll call up the deputy head and tell him not to bother letting you in. This isn't a career for you to go into if you're not ready and capable."

"Alright," Jo said, nodding slowly. "I can get behind that."

"You'd better," Taiyang told her. "You're picking a career where people _die_ , and you're picking it a lot later than most people do."

Jo nodded again, a little more fervently. "I get it."

"And you're _sure_?" Taiyang asked again. "This is what you want?"

"I'm sure!" Jo said, almost frustrated. "I… I want to do this, Dad."

Taiyang lowered his hand. "Alright then. Let's get started. First off, there's something you need to see."

Jo frowned. "Something I - what?"

Taiyang motioned for her to follow him, and she did so, still feeling confused.

He led her to the old shed outside the house, before taking out a key and unlocking it. Inside, he retrieved a chest from below some old paraphernalia, and opened it, before taking out a bundle of red cloth.

"When you were brought here," he said softly, "this was what you were bundled in. I didn't realise it at first, but…"

He unfolded and shook off the dusty piece of cloth, and Jo blinked as she realised it was a red cape, long and flowing, with a stylised 'J' imprinted on the back of it.

"What _is_ this?" she asked.

"Yours," Taiyang said quietly. He handed it to her, and she stroked the material with a wide eyed expression.

"I… never wanted…" she began, before taking a breath. "I mean, you… I didn't need…"

"It's ok," Taiyang said quietly. "I understand." He smiled at the cape. "It's really something, huh? I think it's made from some sort of Atlesian polymer."

"I'm… I'm from Atlas?" Jo asked.

Taiyang sighed. "Kind of. Look…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "Your… it would take a long time to explain what I know, and there's honestly not a lot I do know, really. So how about this. We'll train, and you'll go to Beacon, and when you come back, we can talk about what I know."

"Why not now?" Jo asked quietly.

"A few reasons," Taiyang said quietly. "But the big one is this - I told you that you'd need to be focused. You can't focus when you're processing your entire life history."

"Then why show me this at all?!" she asked angrily, her voice rising in volume.

Taiyang sighed. "Because it's part of you, in a way. You're making a big decision, bigger than anything you've ever had to do, and you _do_ deserve to know. My promise isn't really adequate for that, but it's a start." He touched the cape. " _This_ is part of who you were born as. Now, it can be part of who you choose to be."

"Who I choose to be," Jo repeated softly, looking down at the cape. Slowly, she slung the cape over her shoulders, fastening a small silver clasp at the front, before looking back up at Taiyang, who was smiling. "Alright. What now?"


	4. Three: Departure

**Three**

 **Departure.**

* * *

 **Patch Island, 29th August, year 106 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad).**

The sound of clashing fists echoed through the forest, the crack of air being _pushed_ aside by the force of punches and kicks.

Jo Xiao Long dodged a couple of strikes that were designed to force her to move, not hit her. Taiyang was testing her, still, probing at her defences. With a frown of concentration, she blocked the next strike - a haymaker, not one of Taiyang's best moves - with her elbow.

"Good!" Taiyang said. "But how about _this_?"

He suddenly spun, bringing his leg to try and trip her - only for her to jump over his leg, before somersaulting over him and spinning around, kicking out. He caught her leg and _threw_ her, but she landed on her hands and flipped back to a standing position, before settling into a guard stance, her cape flapping slightly behind her.

" _Very_ good!" Taiyang congratulated. "Improvisation, adaptation. A little sloppy in your strikes." He cracked his knuckles. "Again."

Jo nodded, before she suddenly _pushed_ , moving straight at him faster than sight. He blocked her first punch with a grunt, before blocking a series of strikes. He dodged left of one strike and did a kick that sent Jo stumbling, but she recovered and kicked back, forcing him to block. He stepped back, and she paused for a moment, apparently assessing him.

"Don't forget your semblance," he reminded her.

"You said not to rely on my semblance," Jo pointed out.

"I did," he agreed, "but there's a difference between relying on it and using it appropriately. Your semblance can be a boost when you need it most."

Jo nodded, before apparently concentrating. She crouched slightly, before pushing off of the ground, launching above Taiyang. He watched her leap up, before she span and began descending, fist outstretched. With a grin, he moved, and as she hurtled downward he brought his arms up.

With a crash, Jo's fist his his blocking arms, and with a quick motion he grabbed her outstretched arm and threw her into a tree, where she landed with a _crash_. Taiyang frowned slightly at her, watching a slight flickering light run across her body.

"Alright, your Aura's depleted, so that's enough," he said sternly, brushing his hands.

Jo sighed. "Damn. I thought I had you that time."

"Not gonna happen for a while, Jo," Taiyang said with a slight smile. "But you've been pushing the boundaries of what you can and can't do, and that's progress."

Jo rolled her shoulders, before looking at Taiyang with a hopeful expression. "So… does that mean I'm ready?"

Taiyang pursed his lips. That was a difficult question.

They'd had maybe two months to get Jo from 'novice who spars as a hobby' to 'Huntress in training ready for Beacon academy'. Taiyang had done his best, but it wasn't the sort of task he'd ever had to go through before.

"Come inside, we'll talk," he said quietly. Jo's expression fell. "And don't gimme the puppy dog eyes. It's not bad news, it's just important."

Jo's expression brightened somewhat as she followed him into the house.

Inside, he immediately went to the fridge and opened a cold can of beer and sighed, before sitting down at the kitchen table and indicating that Jo should do the same.

"So?" she asked.

"So," Taiyang repeated. "I think, it's _possible_ , that you're just about ready to go to Beacon, and that you won't find it too much of a struggle. I say 'too much', because you're still going to be behind a lot of these kids." He frowned. "I'm worried about your technique."

Jo frowned. "What about it?"

Taiyang ran a hand over his chin. "Well, you're trying to mimic my style, but your natural approach is a little more direct. You're really more of a boxer than a Mistrali martial artist, and it shows."

"So I should try harder?" Jo asked.

"Well, you can try that," Taiyang suggested, "or you can try to develop your own style at Beacon."

Jo frowned. "I can?"

Taiyang shrugged. "No two fighters have the same style. A lot of it is weapon choice - there's so much variation that no two fighters _can_ have the same style. But even with two people using the exact same weapon, there's variation." He paused. "Take my second daughter."

Jo paused. Taiyang didn't talk about his biological children often at all.

"Ruby learned to fight from her Uncle, Qrow," Taiyang said, leaning forward. "Which was good, because she was never going to be built for fighting like I do, took too much after her mom. It was Qrow who taught her to fight with a scythe, and who helped her build hers. But, and this is important, she learned to use it _her_ way. He tended to keep his in its sword-form unless he was in a _real_ bind. She never built a sword form in, far as I know. His was equipped with a close to mid range gun, hers was a sniper rifle. Variation." He motioned to Jo. "You've learned to fight hand-to-hand, like me, but your style is going to be different to mine. You just need to work on it while you're at Beacon."

Jo's face brightened. "So… I can go, then?"

Taiyang sighed. "Yes. You can go."

Jo beamed. "Awesome! Thanks, Dad!"

She leaned over the table and hugged him, before dashing upstairs. Taiyang sighed, leaning backwards, before picking up his scroll and hashing out a quick text message to Jaune.

 _She's ready. Take care of her._

He sent it and finished his beer with a single gulp. A moment later his scroll beeped, and he looked at Jaune's reply.

 _I will._

Taiyang nodded, feeling a sense of relief for a moment, before a end wave of worry ran through him.

 _I need another beer_ , he thought to himself.

* * *

 **1st September.**

Jo had packed everything she thought she needed. A few sets of work jumpsuits (most of which were various shades of blue), a spare set of boots (black, rather than her favourite red set), and a satchel for her books.

She paused when she got to the cape, and her fingers ran over the material. It was remarkably hardy stuff - it didn't seem to get dirty, or tear, and it was light enough to move in without being so flimsy that moving made it flap about awkwardly. She sighed, before slinging it around her shoulders and clasping it around her neck.

When she got downstairs from packing everything, Taiyang was waiting. He smiled at her.

"All set?" he asked.

"Yeah," Jo replied, grinning.

"Okay," Taiyang said, clapping his hands together. "Now, you're sure you don't want to borrow any of the old weapons I've got lying about?"

Jo rolled her eyes. "No, Dad."

"It's just, relying on your fists and your semblance was old hat when _I_ did it-"

"Dad," Jo cut him off. "I'm good. Really. If I decide I want to make a proper weapon I can do it there with the weapon workshops."

Taiyang grinned. "You've been reading the prospectus."

"Well, _duh_ ," Jo said, rolling her eyes with a chuckle. "If I'm gonna be spending four years there, I wanna know what I'm doing. Also read up on the others a bit."

"Ok," Taiyang said with a chuckle. "Learn anything cool?"

"Not much, only really did it for comparison's sake," Jo shrugged. "Atlas is really linked in with the military, which is… kinda troubling, in some ways. Haven's cool. Shade actually has a long history - you know it used to be the fortress-monastery of the Dreizan Templars?"

"Really?" Taiyang said with mock disinterest.

Jo pouted. "You _did_ know that."

Taiyang chuckled. "I've met Vacuan Huntsmen, they tell me stuff."

Jo shook her head. "Anyway - when do we go?"

"We're going as soon as the taxi arrives," Taiyang said, holding a hand over his heart. "So eager to leave your old Dad?"

"No!" Jo said, mock-horrified. "I'm just excited, y'know?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Taiyang said quietly. "It's good that you're excited. A lot of kids would be nervous."

Jo's smile became a little more melancholy. "I… I guess I am, a bit. I mean, I don't really know that many kids my own age. And I don't… well, I don't know if I'm really… y'know. _Ready_. Y'know?"

Taiyang sighed, before putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Listen to me," he said quietly, "because this is important, and it's all I'm gonna say about what I know for now. You can do whatever you put your mind to. You come from families that did great things, people who were amazing in their own ways."

Jo's eyes widened. "You mean - you mean my parents?"

Taiyang didn't answer, before removing the hand. "What I mean is, they were able to push past their fears. They were able to go to Beacon and decide what kind of people they wanted to be when they left it. And they did."

"Are they -?" Jo began, but caught herself. "Are they dead?"

Taiyang paused, before shaking his head. "No. No, they're not. But I want you to promise me you'll focus for now on your studies, and then when you come back on break, we'll talk about it some more."

Jo frowned. "But - Dad, if -"

"Jo," Taiyang said quietly. "You were brought to me for a lot of reasons, not all of which I can really explain. I promise you, I'll explain, but you _need_ to focus on Beacon, just like you needed to focus on your training." He smiled. "But I thought knowing that your… the families you come from… are full of people who were able to succeed… I thought that might help you."

Jo smiled slowly. "Well… I guess _you_ succeeded."

Taiyang chuckled. "Well, I guess I did, at that. Did time as a professor at Signal, survived, raised two kids… not bad for a tired old kickboxer, huh?"

"Nope," Jo said with a little laugh. "Not at all."

* * *

The taxi ride was quiet, and then before Jo knew it she was waiting by the boarding ramp as other people went on board the airship. Taiyang gave her a bittersweet smile as she put her luggage on the rack, watching it wheel slowly along.

"You'll be okay ," he told her.

"I know," she replied, smiling. "Thanks, Dad."

"Love you, sweetie," he said, giving her a final hug. "Just do your best. I believe in you."

"I know, Dad," she replied. "Love you, too."

And with that, she turned and boarded the airship, feeling a wave of excitement wash over her at the thought of finally going to Beacon.

She hoped she was making the right decision.

* * *

Taiyang watched as the airship slowly began lifting off, before frowning slightly. He took his scroll out, before dialling Jaune's number. Predictably, he answered a few moments later.

 _"Tai?"_ the younger man asked. _"Is everything alright?"_

"Jo's on the airship," Taiyang replied. "Jaune - I promised her I'd tell her once she came back. She doesn't know yet." He paused, and he heard Jaune sigh at the other end. "You're sure she'll be safe?"

 _"Sure? No,"_ Jaune replied. " _The explosion at Xiao Long station came up in conversation. The authorities don't know everything, but it was definitely a bomb, not engine trouble. That might mean -_ "

"That _might_ mean some new stirring up," Taiyang swore. "Shit. Oscar _told_ us this might happen."

" _We've not heard anything from him in months,"_ Jaune told him. _"Which I'm taking as a sign that he's hot on the trail of whatever's going on, not… well, the other option."_

Taiyang pursed his lips. "What else are you doing?"

 _"Mostly? My job,"_ Jaune said. _"I'm not as active as I used to be, you know that. Glynda's warned most of the old guard: Blake's got Menagerie being more watchful, Haven's been informed, Winter's making some arrangements in Atlas, and we've even got some old colleagues of Toshiro's making prep in Vacuo, but it's a waiting game right now."_

"I _hate_ the waiting game," Taiyang commented.

 _"You and me both,"_ Jaune agreed, _"but it's the best we can do right now until we hear from Oscar."_

"Well, is there anything _I_ can do?" Taiyang asked.

Jaune sighed from the other end. _"You won't like it."_

"I already don't like it," Taiyang replied. "But what?"

 _"Well, we don't currently have anyone except Oscar out there,"_ Jaune said slowly, _"and since Qrow died, the person we usually have doing that job is -"_

Taiyang snorted. "Yang. I know. She won't listen to me."

" _She won't listen to anyone, but she might at least give you the time of day,_ " Jaune countered.

"Yeah, and it'll be 'go to hells o'clock'," Taiyang retorted. "Isn't there anyone else?"

 _"Well, I -"_ Jaune began, before saying something to someone off-mic that Taiyang couldn't hear. After a moment, Taiyang heard him sigh. _"Sorry, I was saying. Ren_ might _do it, but Nora's not sure he's kept up -"_

"Was that Pyrrha?" Taiyang with a smirk. "Lemme guess - she said she can do it."

 _"Yes,"_ Jaune replied, slightly testily.

"Well, why not?" Taiyang asked. "Those exercises made her a lot smaller a target for Grimm, and she's kept up, unlike Ren."

Jaune almost _growled_ , which surprised Taiyang. The man had grown more spine in the years since the Insurrection, but he was rarely angry.

 _"You_ know _why not,"_ he said slowly. _"I wish people stopped thinking I was asking her not to go out because I'm trying to restrain her."_

"Hey, hey," Taiyang said, "I know, believe me, I remember when Ruby told me about -" He stopped, sighing. "All I'm saying is, it shouldn't be so strenuous, if she keeps a good supply of that stuff with her. She's one of our best Huntresses, after all. And she's been chomping at the bit for years, if I recall."

Jaune clucked his tongue, before saying something to the person offscreen - who Taiyang assumed was Pyrrha.

 _"Fine,"_ Jaune said. In a more cheerful tone, he continued. _"You're right that she's still one of the best we have. Chances are, we'll know more soon. I'll keep you informed."_

"Good," Taiyang said. "Take care, Jaune."

He ended the call, before letting out a breath. He'd forgotten how sensitive the subject of Pyrrha's health was with Jaune. Still, it was good that she'd be getting out there. Maybe they'd get to the bottom of everything that much sooner.

 _And save more lives this time,_ Taiyang added.

* * *

The airship was comfortable, that much was certain, but Jo found herself feeling a little bored. She'd hoped to see Yorik, the boy she'd met before, but there were so many people on the airship that it was difficult to pick out one face.

 _Well, it's fine,_ she thought, sighing. _I'll meet_ new _people. That'll be fine._

Easier said than done, though. Most people seemed to have already found seats and sat talking with people. Jo sighed again, before looking out of the window, vaguely enjoying the view of Patch as the airship flew across Vale.

"Hey, are these seats taken?" a girl's voice asked.

Jo turned, to see a stunningly beautiful red-headed girl with a smirk on her face that lit up her blue eyes, standing near two chairs opposite Jo's. Standing with her was a handsome, cheerful-looking blonde boy with green eyes.

"Uh, no, they're free," Jo said quickly, smiling.

"Awesome!" the girl said, taking the window seat. She sat down comfortably, her smirk not leaving her face. "I'm Faye, and the lump is -"

"I can introduce myself," the boy said with a chuckle. "I'm Augur, the less annoying twin."

"Hey, I am _not_ annoying," Faye protested jokingly. "I'm a _lot_ of things - beautiful, talented, skilful, resourceful -"

"Modest," Augur cut in.

"Oh, nah, I have you for that," Faye said cheekily.

Jo blinked at the tirade. "Uh… you're twins?"

"Don't look it, right?" Faye said with a more genuine smile. "I look like our mom. He takes after Dad - all blonde and burly and stuff."

"I am _not_ burly," Augur protested.

"You would be if you put some muscle on your damn body," Faye retorted. "You spend all your time _reading_ and practicing archery."

"Nothing wrong with a bow," Augur pointed out. "Range is good."

"Dad got by without it," Faye snorted.

Jo blinked again. These two were a proverbial sonic assault on the senses.

"Hey, crap!" Faye said, turning to Jo. "Sorry, what's your name?"

"Uh, Jo," Jo said. "Jo Xiao Long."

"Ooh, any relation to Taiyang Xiao Long?" Faye asked. "Dad talks about him sometimes."

"Uh, yeah, he's my Dad," Jo said.

Faye took on a mocking thoughtful expression. "So you're the sponsor case, huh?"

"S - sorry, 'sponsor case'?" Jo repeated, frowning.

Augur lightly whacked his sister's shoulder. "Don't be rude."

"I'm not!" Faye protested. She turned to Jo. "Dad said Taiyang called him and said he was sponsoring his kid. That's you, right?"

"Uh, yeah," Jo said. "Is - is being sponsored bad?"

"Heck, no!" Faye said with a grin. "Just means you didn't come through a school to get traditional paperwork for your application. Dad gets a couple of sponsor cases a year."

"We were one," Augur added wryly. "Dad and Mom trained us themselves. Easier than putting us through Signal or something."

"Who are your parents?" Jo asked curiously.

"Well our Mom's called Pyrrha Nikos," Augur replied. "She used to be famous for doing some championships in Mistral, but that was a long time ago."

"As for our Dad," Faye added, before pointing to something behind Jo, "he's there."

Jo turned, to see the image of a handsome older man with a beard and short blonde hair, clad in black armour over blue underclothes, staring out at the airship's occupants. It was a hologram, being projected from a small plate installed in the floor.

 _"Hello,"_ the man's voice said, sounding slightly tinny, " _and welcome to Beacon Academy. My name is Jaune Arc, and I'm the Deputy Headmaster of the school."_

"Wow," Jo said, glancing back at Faye and Augur, who both looked a little embarrassed.

Arc's voice continued. _"You students have been chosen to attend this academy - this is a rare honour, and carries with it a tremendous burden. Right now, our world is experiencing a time of calm, but even in such times there is a danger of new enemies rising and threatening the peace we have fought to build."_

"Downer, Dad," Faye said quietly.

 _"As future Huntsmen and Huntresses,"_ the Deputy continued, _"it will be you that defends our world. You will the thin line between the people of Remnant, and the darkness beyond our doors. It is mine and my colleague's privilege to teach you, and it will be your duty - and honour - to learn."_

The hologram fizzed out, and the students began talking amongst themselves.

"Way to bring the mood down," Faye muttered.

Jo said nothing, instead reflecting on the choice she had made. Was this really what she wanted? She wanted to help people, sure, but… things like 'the darkness beyond our doors' made it all sound so… _ominous_.

"Hey," she heard Augur say, and she looked at him. "Dad always starts the year with the dour speech. He thinks it makes students take the stuff we'll be doing more seriously."

"He practiced it for _weeks_ at home," Faye added. "Chill. You'll be fine. Hey, maybe we'll all even be on the same team!"

Jo smiled. "Yeah, maybe."

Augur smiled too. "Even if we're not, I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Me, too," Faye agreed.

Jo's smile widened. She knew they didn't know her well, but she felt a surge of self-belief at the confidence in their voices.

Maybe this _would_ be fine, after all.

* * *

 **Omake 1: A Knight Walks Into A Bar…**

 **82 ABC.**

Jaune was sat at a table in one of the many bars in Mistral, studying the newest of many changes in his life. Where once he had possessed two flesh-and-blood arms, now he was staring absently at a metal right hand that whirred and clicked every time it moved.

He flexed the metallic arm's fingers, still feeling like he was wearing a thick glove. The thing was supposedly 'standard Atlesian cybernetics', which Jaune took to mean it was something one would give to a civilian, not the top-of-the-line thing Yang had been sporting. He couldn't exactly blame them for that, though.

Still, with his sword arm now reduced in effectiveness and responsiveness he'd have to switch to using Crocea Mors two handed or in his left hand, at least until the thing replacing his hand felt more… _natural_.

"That looks uncomfortable," a cheerful, yet unfamiliar, voice said. Jaune looked up, to see a man of about thirty standing over him, arms folded. Jaune frowned - he didn't recognise the man, which, despite his unremarkable coat and plain hair, he thought he would have if he'd known him.

"Uh, yeah," Jaune replied. "Sorry, uh, pull up a chair, Mr…?"

"Jovis," the man said, reaching out his left hand to shake, a mischievous smile on his face. "Don't worry - we've never met, you're not forgetting something."

Jaune smiled, shaking the man's left hand with his own. "Good to meet you, Mr Jovis."

"Just Jovis is fine," the man said with a chuckle, sitting down. "'Mr' always makes me sound old, something I try my damnedest to avoid."

Jaune smiled. "Well, what can I do for you, Jovis?"

"Well, that's rather the question, isn't it?" Jovis asked, leaning backwards. "Some would say you've done more than enough, you and your friends. You've saved Mistral from an attack similar to the one in Beacon. You've prevented tragedy. You're the big damn heroes."

Something about his tone made Jaune frown slightly. "We… were doing what we thought was right."

"Oh, don't mistake me," Jovis said with a smile. "I'm not disparaging you. I'm merely concerned that this is not - how shall I put this? 'The end'."

Jaune nodded slowly. "It's not, I don't think."

It was true enough - Mercury had been here, but Emerald (and perhaps more pertinently, _Cinder_ ) hadn't, nor had Adam Taurus. The conflict in Mistral had only been another move in a larger design, that much was clear to any strategist.

"You'd think right," Jovis said, leaning forward. "More right than you know."

Jaune blinked, before also leaning forward. "Do you - do you _know_ something?"

"I know a lot of things," Jovis said easily. "I know you're frustrated with not knowing everything. I know this little cold war you're fighting won't be won by letting Salem make all the aggressive moves, Jaune Arc." His grin became almost feral. "And I know the location of one of the complexes Salem's people use for a particularly nasty set of experiments. _If_ you're interested."

Jaune's eyes widened. "You do?"

"Oh yes," Jovis said with a smile. "They are experiments Salem values highly. Part of her grand master plan."

Jaune found himself glaring at the man. "And _how_ do you know this?"

"The how and the why are irrelevant for the moment, Jaune," Jovis said with a half smile. "I can call you 'Jaune', can't I?"

"Call me what you want," Jaune replied testily. "But I can't just trust you if you come out of the blue."

"No? Ah," Jovis said, leaning forward again. "Then let me sweeten the deal for you." He took a breath. "Pyrrha Nikos is _alive_."

Jaune blinked. "Get lost."

"No, really," Jovis said with a grin.

He brought out a scroll, tapped a button, and then the image of - Jaune's heart skipped a beat - _Pyrrha_ was on the screen. She was in a medical robe, her skin pale, but she was definitely breathing, lying in a clinical-looking hospital bed, an IV with an unknown dark liquid hooked to her arm.

"She's alive," Jovis reiterated, "and you _can_ save her from a fate some would call worse than death, but you need to trust me, and you need to act _now_."

Jaune looked from the image of Pyrrha to the man in front of him.

What else could he do?

* * *

 **I'm grateful to everyone who's followed and favourited thus far :) Please leave a review if you feel so inclined. Cheers.**


	5. Four: Many Meetings

**Four**

 **Many Meetings**

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, 1st September, year 106 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad).**

When the airship came in to land, Jo and the Arc twins were some of the first off, and Jo's eyes widened at her first sight of Beacon Academy in the flesh.

The massive school was situated on the edge of the great plateau that lay to the east of Vale's central territory. On the edge of the cliff, flanked by two rivers that ran down from the eastern mountains, over the cliff and down into the lake beneath the school.

The campus itself was a massive series of structures built around a number of large towers that led high into the sky. At the centre of the entire edifice was a single massive tower that rose higher than the others and in the middle of the upper levels was a great, blue light that shone out from just beneath the tip of the tower.

Out from the central mass of towers were the lower structures, the dorms, auxiliary classes and training centres. Out from there led several streets, the widest heading out from the central tower and down to the aerial docks that hung over the edge of the cliff. Large service elevators ran down from the centre of the aerial dock disks to the regular docks at the foot of the cliff.

Rings of arches broke up the sections of the school with the largest encircling the school itself. On occasion, larger towers broke up the outer ring, most of them capped by statues that Jo couldn't make out. Finally, and somewhat ominously, were the old defence towers that had been installed after the reclamation of Beacon. Long since disarmed, they were still a chilling reminder of the six years of open Insurrection, as well as the ten years of uneasy uncertainty that had followed.

"Wow," Jo said softly.

"It's really somethin', huh?" Faye said appreciatively, her hands on her hips. "Never gets old."

"You've been here before?" Jo asked.

"Yeah," Faye replied with a grin. "Dad brought us out here for visits once or twice. Makes you think - generations of heroes have trained here. Now it's our turn!"

Augur snorted from next to her. "You make it all sound so grandiose."

"Well, isn't it?" Faye asked. "Hey, come on! I want to go see everything!"

She dashed off. Augur threw an almost helpless glance at Jo, who shrugged, before he followed his sister, leaving Jo on her own.

 _Great,_ she thought, sighing. _There go the only friends I've managed to make so far. Hope I get to catch up with 'em later…_

She strolled along, taking in the sight of the tower. She'd read that it had been destroyed in the opening engagement of the Fang Insurrection, but there was no sign that it had ever been so much as scratched right now, save for the light in the tower being a cold blue as opposed to a deep green.

Jo sighed. She headed for a bench and sat down, idly scratching the back of her head. This place was definitely… _overwhelming_. Jo had spent the entirety of her life on Patch, apart from the odd sojourn to the mainland to visit the city. She spent a good chunk of that time helping Taiyang - he'd taken to doing a little amateur farming, as well as building extensions to the house. Coming here… this was far more crowded than she'd ever experienced before, and she didn't know if she liked it.

 _I should call Dad,_ she thought idly. _Or at least throw him an IM. Let him know I arrived safely._

She reached for her scroll, only to blink in surprise - it wasn't in the pocket she'd left it in. Frowning, she searched her other pockets, but there was no sign of her scroll. She swore under her breath, and stood to go, only to find her path blocked by a girl with dark hair, grey wolf-ears sticking out of the top of her head.

"Excuse me," the girl said in a low, calm tone, holding out a scroll. "I think this belongs to you."

Jo blinked, and took the scroll. Sure enough, it was hers.

"Uh, thanks," she said. "Um, how did you…?"

"Know it was yours?" the girl replied blandly. "Smell." She tapped her nose. "Wolf Faunus."

"Oh, right," Jo said slowly. She'd never met a Faunus before except in passing. "Um, thanks, Miss…"

"Schrieten, Erika Schrieten," the girl replied, giving a half smile. "First year, right?"

"Right," Jo said, nodding. "And you?"

"Yeah," Erika replied, sniffing. "All smells the same. Nervousness and teenage hormones."

"That… must smell bad," Jo said slowly.

Erika chuckled. "You have _no_ idea."

Jo began laughing a little, too, before an awkward pause descended.

"I'd better go," Erika said after a moment.

"Oh, ok," Jo said with a smile. "But I'll see you inside maybe?"

"Yeah," the girl said, noncommittally.

Jo smiled. "Hey, do you know where around here we're going?"

Erika nodded and pointed at the door at the base of the tower. "Just in there. Think there's a way through the main hall from there."

"Thanks," Jo smiled.

Erika waved and walked off, passing a girl in a trenchcoat and a boy with glasses wearing a slightly ruffled shirt and tweedy trousers, both of whom seemed to be deep in conversation.

Jo took a deep breath, content to admire the view for a little longer.

"Hey!" a voice called to her. She turned, to see the familiar face of Yorik approaching, a smile on his face. "It's Jo, right? Wonder girl from the train?"

Jo smiled awkwardly. "Hey, hi! How are you?"

"I'm great!" he said with a slightly tired smile. "Just came off the airship, making sure all my luggage is getting transported ok. So you came to Beacon after all, huh?"

"Yeah," Jo said. She shrugged. "I guess you convinced me."

"I'm glad," Yorik told her. "The world needs more good people." He glanced over his shoulder, before frowning. "Hey, it was great catching up, but I need to go see to my luggage - I bet they'll wreck _everything_ if I'm not careful."

Jo smiled. "That'd be bad."

"It really would, there's a few things of my Dad's that I brought!" Yorik said earnestly. "But we'll meet up again later, ok?"

 _Yup, same as the other guys_ , Jo thought with a wry smile. "Ok. Talk to you then."

Yorik dashed off, and Jo sighed, before beginning to amble slowly towards the door to the school itself.

There were certainly some… _interesting_ people here.

* * *

 _Taylor Hermann's Journal. September 1st, year 106. Have arrived at Beacon Academy. Place is bright and clean, but even here, can tell there's the faintest edge of the old paranoia. Little cracks in the facade that never healed. These students are smiling, but the smiles are twitchy. They know they're entering a new world, on the cusp of a new age. Maybe a new Armageddon._

The girl in the trenchcoat's name was Taylor Hermann. Taylor Hermann was, as anyone who knew her would tell you… odd. Her shabby trench coat covered her small frame, and her short red hair was equally messy.

"So," the boy she was with said, as they looked up at the impressive tower. "Have you given any thought to my offer?"

"Offer?" Taylor asked in her gruff voice.

The boy sighed. _His_ name was Edwin Nocturne, and Edwin Nocturne had the mixed pleasure and irritation of being Taylor's oldest friend, by virtue of his father Archimedes Nocturne having adopted her when her own father had died. He ran a hand through his black hair.

"You know," he said, adjusting his glasses. "Making you a weapon?"

The girl made a soft 'hrm'ing noise. "Difficult question. Would need to be something to adapt to my style."

Edwin raised an eyebrow. "You _have_ a style?"

Taylor scowled. "Of course. Everyone has a style. Even if the style isn't very fancy, it's still a style."

Bringing up her gloved hands, she motioned to her knuckle dusters, a pair of simple, reinforced bladed weapons that were retractable when needed.

"Those are awfully limited," Edwin pointed out.

Another 'hrm'. "Welcome to make something to increase range. Would need to be small, unobtrusive."

Edwin smiled patiently. "I can do small and unobtrusive. Assume you'd want it to be pretty versatile too, right?"

Another 'hrm'.

Edwin nodded. "I'll take that as a yes. Don't worry, with this place's resources I should have you a prototype done in the next couple of weeks."

"Good," Taylor said with a short nod. "Sooner we're done with Beacon the sooner can get back to hunting White Fang."

Now it was Edwin's turn to go 'hmm'. "You're sure about that?"

"Of course," Taylor said. "White Fang remnants still a threat to Vale's security and peace of the wider world. Worth pursuing." She threw him a look, and her tone softened imperceptibly. "You're still with me, right?"

Edwin nodded firmly. "Of course, if you're still doing it. Been saying I'd help you for years."

"Good to be sure," Taylor commented, but she smiled crookedly. "Thank you, Edwin."

Edwin smiled back. "No problem." He looked up at the tower again. "Hey, what do you think this initiation stuff is like?"

"Students get thrown in forest, retrieve artefact of some kind, return," Taylor said blandly. "First person you lock eyes with is partner for four year time period. Two sets of partners with corresponding artefacts become team." At Edwin's surprised gaze, the girl smirked. "Information leaked on net by former students. Corroborated by other ex-students. Generally considered holdover from Ozpin's time, seen as inefficient and potentially damaging if students happen to end up with unsuitable partner. Good for improvisational technique though."

Edwin blinked. "That's… surprisingly comprehensive."

"Can find anything on the net," Taylor said with a shrug. "Unfortunately, most of it is pornographic or related to cartoon horses. Or both."

Edwin blinked again. "I don't want to know."

"No, you don't," Taylor agreed.

* * *

The main hall, a grand space with a stage at the top end, was packed: students from all walks of life were here, walking around, looking at the school, talking with one another. In one corner of the room, a young man with handsome features and messy dark hair, dressed in what looked like an old Atlesian military uniform, was talking to an older man in a more elaborate version of that uniform, who appeared to be annoyed at him for some reason. The older man had a stern face - eyebrows meant for bristling, a large, beak-like nose, and a balding pate that only accentuated his sternness.

Jo could see students in expensive clothes, students with full combat gear, students with elaborate weapons, students with simple weapons…

She looked down at her own comparatively simple gear. Her jumpsuit was practical in a sense, and allowed her freedom of movement, but it wasn't very armoured. And her cape, much as she appreciated Taiyang giving it to her, did have a tendency to flap and get caught on things at the wrong times, although at least the strange material never tore.

"Hello, again," a voice said from behind her, and Jo almost jumped out of her skin, she turned to see Erika smiling wryly at her.

"You're very good at sneaking up on people," she commented.

Erika merely shrugged. "Smell."

Jo nodded, smiling slightly. "I guess that must be useful."

"Even if it smells bad," Erika said with a nod, "it's proved to be good. Though it's rare."

"Really?" Jo asked.

Erika nodded. "There aren't as many dog or wolf Faunus as there are things like rabbits, cats, bulls…" She trailed off. "Sorry, Faunus genealogy isn't even interesting in Menagerie."

"Oh, is that where you're from?" Jo asked. "I've not really heard much about it."

"Well, I've _seen_ it, once, a long time ago," Erika replied with a shrug. "I lived on Anima for most of my life, but we moved to Sanus a year ago."

"Cool," Jo said with a smile. "I've lived on Patch island for most of my life, only really ever been as far as Vale city."

Erika nodded. "I suppose a lot of people must not have been so far. One reason to become a Huntress, I guess."

"I guess," Jo said, her smile fading. Now that she was here, she was wondering if her reasons really were all that great. Some guy had said that she could help people - how? And would it really be in the way she wanted? Was killing Grimm the same as helping a woman from a burning train?

Erika looked around, a slightly awkward smile on her face. "Sorry if I seem a little… standoffish, by the way. My grandfather encourages me to try talking to people."

"You not a people person?" Jo asked with a sympathetic smile.

Erika's smile became more relaxed. "One way to put it." She looked over at the stage. "Oh - look, it's the Headmistress."

Jo turned, and sure enough, at the top of the room was Headmistress Glynda Goodwitch. She was speaking in hushed tones with Professor Arc, and neither of them looked happy. Erika's wolf ears pricked, and she frowned slightly.

"What's up?" Jo asked.

Erika threw her a sidelong glance. "I can hear them."

She didn't elaborate, and Jo found herself wondering what it was she was hearing that was so bad.

After a moment, Goodwitch stepped away from Arc, before looking out over the auditorium, her expression stern as she looked at the students, almost seeming to look each student in the eye.

"You are all here because you have chosen to become Huntsmen and Huntresses. To become the thin line that defends our world from evil." She took a breath, her expression hardening. "Perhaps you believe you can do this, that this will be easy. Perhaps you even believe that you are destined for greatness. But history teaches us an important lesson." She took a deep breath. "It teaches us that greatness is earned, not imbued. That your destiny is not something you are guaranteed - it is something you fight for, fight to reach. If you do _not_ fight, if you do not give your all, then you are guaranteed only failure." She fixed the entire room with the sternest expression Jo had ever seen. "And I will not accept failure lightly."

She turned and walked off, and Professor Arc stepped up to the podium.

"Tonight you'll be accommodated in the ballroom," he said neutrally. "Tomorrow, you'll begin your initiation into the school properly. Have a good night."

He, too, walked off, and the students began muttering amongst themselves.

"She seemed cheerful," Jo said, slightly sarcastically. "I wonder if she's always that grumpy?"

Erika was frowning. "There's probably more to it than grumpiness."

Jo looked at her. "You said you could hear them - what were they talking about?"

Erika shook her head. "I couldn't make it all out. Probably misheard what I _did_ hear."

Jo wasn't convinced, but she didn't press the issue.

"Anyway," Erika continued, smiling softly at Jo. "Good night. I hope to see you tomorrow."

And then she was gone, leaving Jo on her own. The girl sighed: today had been.. _interesting_.

"Hey, Jo!" came the familiar voice of Faye. Jo blinked, and turned to see the girl and her brother approaching her. "You gonna go pick a spot in the ballroom? That's where we're heading!"

Jo smiled, happy to meet up with friends again. "Sure."

* * *

"... and Dad says that Port would let _live_ Grimm run around in his class, and make students fight them," Augur was saying that evening. He'd swapped into a simple set of green pyjamas that matched his eyes.

"Hope the new guy does that, too," Faye said with a smirk. "More practice we get against Grimm the better."

Jo neglected to comment on the danger of letting Grimm loose anywhere. After all - it was a school for _Huntsmen_. If it wasn't dangerous it wouldn't have been doing its job.

She was tapping out her text to Taiyang. _Got here safe. Met some nice people. Professor Goodwitch seemed a little off. Is she always like that?_

Jo thought about the message as she sent it. Goodwitch really _had_ seemed off. What had been wrong with her? What had she and Professor Arc been talking about?

For that matter, what had Erika heard?

"Hey, you ok?" Faye asked her, and Jo looked up. She smiled.

"Yeah, just thinking about the speech," she said. "Did Professor Goodwitch seem a bit distracted to you?"

Faye shrugged. "I guess? A little?"

Augur sat forward. "She's a Huntress, and because of who she is, she spends a lot of her time co-ordinating a lot of other Huntsmen and Huntresses to boot. I bet that's stressful."

"Yeah, that's probably it," Faye agreed. "Not like we have to worry about that stuff yet."

"No," Augur agreed. "Tomorrow's our initiation."

"Great," Jo said neutrally. "What's that like?"

"Gods know," Faye said, yawning and lying back. "I guess we'll find out."

Jo blinked as the other girl went to sleep, her brother following suit. What's more, her father hadn't replied.

 _Well, that's not comforting,_ she thought to herself.

* * *

Jaune Arc stretched his arms out, feeling the muscles and bones cracking and creaking slightly in his organic arm, and hearing the whirring servos of his mechanical arm. It was always good to get back to Beacon, feel the sense of being back where he made a difference to the world. It was, in a way, what he'd wanted to do all those years ago when he entered Beacon.

 _Of course, stuff's different now,_ he thought to himself. _A_ lot _of stuff._

He heard his scroll ping, and brought it out, frowning as he saw the message was from Taiyang.

 _Jo said Glynda seemed off. Everything ok?_

Jaune sighed. He tapped out a reply.

 _Some activity's got her feeling a little concerned. We're on it. Try not to worry._

He regretted the last sentence as soon as he sent it. Parenthood had given him a new perspective on the worries of parents ( _Obviously, Jaune_ ). Telling a Taiyang not to worry about his daughter was like telling Nora not to be hyperactive.

"Hey! Jaune!"

Speaking of which.

Nora Valkyrie was standing in his doorway. She'd aged about as well as anyone: a few laugh lines around her eyes and mouth, longer hair with the odd grey, but generally speaking she hadn't changed at all. She wore a long black coat over a white and pink blouse, looking every inch the professional - a far cry from her exuberant expression.

"Hi, Nora," Jaune said with a tired smile.

"Nova arrived today!" Nora said with a grin. "And I saw Faye and Augur! Isn't this exciting? Now all our kids are here!"

Jaune rolled his eyes. "Yes, it's exciting. And also terrifying that they've chosen to follow us into essentially the stupidest career in the world."

Nora stuck her tongue out. "You used to like this job."

"No. I used to to like the _idea_ of this job," Jaune retorted with his own stuck out tongue. He sighed. "There was another attack in Vale. We got the report right as the students were arriving."

Nora's face fell. "How bad?"

"Police were able to locate the bomb before it went off," Jaune told her with a trim expression. "But there were a couple of murdered security guards in the warehouse complex nearby. The assumption is that they were trying to blow one of the factories."

Nora nodded slowly. "That's why Glynda's looked angry for the last few hours. I even heard some of the kids talking about it."

Jaune nodded. "Something's stirring, Nora. I'm just hoping it isn't something too big."

* * *

A man in a tailored suit sighed as he sat in his apartment in Vale city. He was fortunate this time that he'd been able to get away from the scene he'd left the explosive device at without his presence being unmasked. He'd had to kill a couple of guards, but it hadn't been too stressful.

Regrettable that the police had located the bomb, but his instructions had been to plant the bomb, not ensure its explosion. He got paid either way.

His scroll buzzed, and the man sighed, before answering the call.

"Strong," he said.

" _Mr Strong_ ," the voice on the other end said. " _I'm calling to congratulate you on your success."_

"My _success_ ," Strong repeated sceptically. "Forgive me, but that wasn't exactly a success."

" _On the contrary - you achieved exactly what I wanted, even without the bomb detonating_ ," the voice on the other end said. " _Now, I have new instructions._ "

Strong frowned. "My price is going to have to go up. The atmosphere in the city is getting edgier. It's getting harder to do anything without getting noticed."

" _Not to worry, Mr Strong,_ " the voice said. " _I can meet any price. Now - here is what I want you to do…"_

* * *

 **Omake 2: Three Amigos.**

 **Atlas. 88 ABC.**

The first figure was already waiting there when the other two arrived. She was dressed in a long white trenchcoat, under which she wore a t-shirt and jeans. Gone were the days when Weiss Schnee could dress to impress: now even this getup was painful to wear.

"Weiss," one of the two approaching figures greeted cheerfully, and the former heiress couldn't help but smile at Ruby Rose's still-unshaken enthusiasm for just about everything. She still wore the same red cloak she always did, under which she was clad a practical battle-dress. Her uncle's old sword, Corvus ex Fortuna, was still slung on her back.

"Ruby," Weiss replied with a nod. She looked at the other figure. "Jaune. How are your…?"

The other figure took his black hood down, revealing the grim expression of Jaune Arc. He had grown a beard, and there were definitely a couple of scars he had that he hadn't last time Weiss had seen him.

"If you're asking about the arm," he said, "it's as shit as the last one."

Weiss winced. "Uh… well…"

"Well, nothing," Jaune said. "You called us here for a reason, Weiss. What is it?"

Weiss swallowed. "Well, firstly, I'm glad you came."

Jaune snorted. Ruby, on the other hand, smiled.

"We're glad to help you, Weiss," she said earnestly. She threw Jaune a look. "Even _he_ is, whether he's acting grumpy about it or not."

Jaune simply snorted again.

"Alright," Weiss said, taking a breath. "I've got strong reason to believe that my father is working on… _something_."

"'Something'?" Jaune repeated. "Like what?"

"Winter didn't know," Weiss said quietly. "She heard this from General Ironwood, but even he's being stonewalled."

Ruby frowned. "But he _runs_ Atlas, doesn't he?"

Weiss shook her head. "He runs Atlas, but not everyone is his ally. There's always factions working on their own projects. Winter told me that father might be working on some sort of military contract, even if he's only funding it, but it's a group of officers and scientists apart from Atlas' central organisation."

Jaune shook his head. "We only just avoided the end of the world as we know it, and people are still politicking."

"It's inevitable," Weiss replied sadly. "But Winter did manage to get me a location, if you guys are up for some espionage."

Ruby grinned. "Espionage. Sounds fun. And hey - whatever's there can't be as bad as Salem."

Weiss smiled ruefully. "No, I guess not." She looked at Jaune. "You with us?"

Jaune nodded. "I came, didn't I?"

Weiss nodded back. "Alright. Follow me."

And it's that, she turned around and led the group off. She hoped whatever they found wouldn't prove to be too troublesome.

* * *

 **AN: Hey guys. Hope you've all been enjoying Journey thus far. If you like it, or have any constructive criticisms of it, I'd love to hear them, but regardless, thank you so much for taking the time to read :-)**

 **In addition, I hope you've enjoyed the Omakes so far, seeing as they grant little hints as to the "past" of this particular next-gen fic. If there's anything in particular you'd like to see in an Omake - something about a particular character or characters - feel free to mention it and I'll add it to my list :-)**

 **Take care all.**


	6. Five: The Jump, Part 1

**Five**

 **The Jump, Part 1**

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, 2nd September, year 106 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad).**

He was having a lovely dream. A pink Beowolf in a green tweed jacket was sitting on a rock overlooking the sea, smoking a pipe and looking vaguely contemplative. The sea was bright magenta, which seemed perfectly natural since it was reflecting the turquoise and orange sky. As he approached the Beowolf, blue airships streaked across the sky, spewing raindrops that seemed to impact some invisible shield above their heads, creating ripples in the air above their heads.

"You're not real," he commented to the Beowolf.

"Am I not?" it replied with a wry smile that twisted its Grimm lips in the oddest way. "What makes you say that?"

Richard blinked at that, his attention at least partially taken by the ripples in the air, merging the blues and turquoises and oranges in the sky into a tapestry of colour that swirled and coalesced into new forms, some of which might have even been familiar.

"Real Grimm don't… well, real Grimm aren't pink," he said after a moment.

"Is that so," the pink Grimm had said. "And do you know everything?"

"Well, no," Richard had admitted. It was one of the oldest tenets ever, one his tutor and his father hammered into him all the time - _'I do not know' is the beginning of wisdom, Richard, one you must always remember._

"And so," the pink Beowolf continued. "Beyond the limited span of your knowledge there may be pink Grimm, creatures that sit and smoke beneath turquoise and orange skies and watch the ripples as the rainships whirl overhead. Is that not true?"

"It is true," Richard admitted. "There could be anything."

"There could be," the Grimm said approvingly.

The Grimm handed Richard its pipe and he inhaled, his eyes widening as a new wave of colours expanded outwards from a single point in the sky - purples, greens, brilliant yellows… and he suddenly looked down at his shoes as though marvelling that he was even wearing them in his dream, while all the while the Grimm watched him with an amused expression (could a Grimm even look amused? And yet this one did).

"Of course, Richard," it said to him after a moment, "the trick is not to consider the truth of a thing, be that thing Grimm, Man or Faunus, but the truth of _oneself_ , for _that_ is the truth one must learn to find true happiness."

It seemed so obvious to Richard once he heard it, and he nodded, feeling a sense of profound wisdom even by sitting with this Beowolf.

"After all, life is all about how we choose to perceive it, and even we cannot understand that choice if we do not understand the one making it, ourselves," the pink Beowolf continued sagely, taking a drag from its pipe. "If we never choose to know ourselves, then a part of us remains asleep, and the sleeper must awaken." It had affixed him with an oddly stern look for a Grimm. "The sleeper must awaken. Awaken. Wake up. Wake up!"

* * *

"Wake up!" a harsh voice snapped in Richard Atreus' ear, and suddenly his eyes snapped open.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes slightly before yawning. He looked up, to see the stern, beaky-nosed face of Porter Hall, his old tutor.

"Stand up," Porter ordered.

Richard sighed, and did so, standing to attention. Porter was scowling at him, arms crossed over his military tunic.

Richard gave his old tutor a smirk. "Shouldn't you be getting used to your new job, Porter?"

Porter scowled. "A little more care, young Master Atreus. I might not be here in any official capacity as your personal tutor, but I still have authority over you. Furthermore," he added, bringing a finger up and pointing at Richard for emphasis, "I don't want to see you thinking that you're allowed to slacken just because you're no longer in Atlas."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Porter," Richard said with a sigh. "Permission to get on with getting dressed?"

"Granted," Porter said, before stalking off.

Richard watched him stalk out, before relaxing. He ran a hand through his long black hair, before sighing and starting to get dressed.

 _Today's the initiation,_ he thought, frowning slightly. _Gee, that's gonna be… fun._

The unfortunate thing about spending the entirety of your life training to be a soldier in the old Atlesian tradition was that, among other things, you ended up with nothing to choose from in your fear but the same old Atlesian military tunics. These went perfectly well with his weapon: a boxy little sonic cannon, with a single wire running to a wrist braver from which he controlled his settings. His father's crest, the ocean under a full, unbroken moon, was stamped on everything.

 _And they say variety is the spice of life,_ Richard thought with a snort. _Well, I need more spice in mine. Speaking of which._

Once he had thrown his gear on and made sure his cannon was set, he went to the bathroom, and withdrew a small box of Dust - or rather, something that _looked_ like Dust. With a quick check to be sure no one else was around, he sniffed the contents, inhaling the Dust and taking a moment to savour the sweet smell. He felt his mind clear and focus, any lingering nervousness about initiation fade, his limbs energising and his grogginess disappearing.

 _Beautiful,_ he thought with a contented smile. He closed and sealed the box and put it in his pocket, before looking in the mirror. His eyes were only slightly dilated, which meant he hadn't taken enough of the MindDust to make it obvious.

"Right then, Rich," he said to himself, smirking at his own reflection. "Let's get out there."

* * *

Jo woke up groggy and tired, and for a moment didn't remember that she had enrolled at Beacon. Waking up surrounded by other people was therefore a momentary culture shock, but full memory returned quickly.

"Hey, Jo!" Faye called, waving to her from the doorway of the hall. "You're finally up!"

Jo smiled awkwardly. "Yeah, always been a bit of a heavy sleeper…"

She got up, quickly grabbing her jumpsuit and cape from her bag and going to change. When she got out, Faye and Augur were both waiting, Augur smiling and Faye looking impatient.

"Finally!" Faye said, looking good-naturedly irritated. "We need to go get our weapons from the locker room."

Jo shrugged. "I, uh, don't. I didn't bring a weapon."

Faye frowned. "Say what?"

Augur, however, nodded. "You're a brawler, then?"

"That's right," Jo said. She wasn't entirely up on the various (rather vague) terms used to describe various different weapon and combat styles (which was a very hard thing to even create categories for, given the _insanely_ high amount of variation possible), but Taiyang had at least told her that she and he both belonged to the category of 'brawler' - fighters who specialised in unarmed combat, their semblances allowing them to punch through Grimm (well, theoretically punch through Grimm in Jo's case, since she'd never actually met one).

Faye nodded too, a smirk on her face. "Oh, fair enough, then. Lookin' forward to seeing you punch some Grimm's lights out. See you at initiation, then."

She walked off, Augur following with a quick wave in Jo's direction. Jo smiled, before noticing that the hall had mostly emptied, save for - to her surprise - Erika.

"Hey!" she said, waving over at the Faunus girl and walking over to her. "You not going to the locker room?"

In response, Erika simply held up her sword, a longsword almost as long as she was, with an elegant crafted hilt, a green gem set into the hilt.

"Oh, you had your weapon _with_ you, right," Jo said comprehendingly, frowning at it. "Why didn't you just put it in a locker like everyone else?"

Erika gave a wry smile. "I never let Greenstone out of my sight."

"'Greenstone'?" Jo repeated. "Why'd you call it that?"

"I didn't," Erika replied patiently. "Actually my great-great-great-grandfather was the one who forged it. He named it 'Westerflamme'. It was used in some of the last wars fought between human and Faunus." She frowned. "After that it was broken, and my great-grandfather reformed it for the Great War and named it 'Greenstone'."

Jo nodded. "The 'colour' tradition, I remember the history."

"Yeah," Erika said quietly. She slung the sword over her shoulder, carrying it on her back.

"So, what can it do?" Jo asked, as the two of them began walking out of the hall.

Erika shrugged. "Not much, really. It's just a sword. I think it's had some strengthening stuff added to it over time - Dust enhancements worked into the metal weave, that sort of thing - but that's all passive stuff." She smirked. "It _is_ really easy to sharpen, though."

Jo chuckled. "Well, that's something. Hey, at least you've got a cool looking weapon. I'm a brawler: don't even have anything."

Erika smiled. "As long as you can do what you do, I don't see why it matters."

Jo paused, before giving Erika a worried look. "Have you… uh, have you ever met… well, _fought_ … a Grimm before?"

"Fought one?" Erika asked. "I have, once or twice. You haven't?"

Jo shook her head. "Patch island is very small. We only get young Grimm, and Signal's students and teachers usually deal with them before they ever threaten anyone who isn't - you know, already looking to kick their ass."

Erika nodded. "I see what you mean." She paused. "Are you frightened?"

Jo nodded. "A little."

"I see," Erika said quietly. "I don't know what to say except… keep being. The Grimm _are_ dangerous."

There was a pause as the two walked.

"That isn't very comforting," Jo said after a moment.

"It wasn't meant to be," Erika replied.

* * *

 _Taylor Hermann's Journal. September 2nd, year 106. First night uneventful. Will begin initiation shortly. Not sure whether feeling in stomach is instinctive nervousness at thought of fighting creatures of Grimm, or just bad reaction to snack food. Maybe both._

"So," Edwin said, interrupting Taylor's barely-legible scribbling as he put his gear on, "if it's true that we're getting thrown into the woods…"

"Information from student of Beacon from class of 98, started 94," Taylor cut him off. "Eight years can change many things. Potential that this year will be different."

Edwin gave her a look. "They upheld it that long, though. Do you really think they wouldn't uphold it now?"

"I _think_ that expecting the unexpected is safer," Taylor replied.

"Tradition is an important thing to some people," Edwin reminded her. "It's what a lot of our society is built on."

"And yet," Taylor replied, "the colour tradition died out in wave of existential crisis of Insurrection. Paranoia became commonplace for decade and a half. People returned to religion. The world changes. Traditions are just things we have not changed yet."

Edwin paused, in the middle of putting his belt on, before he finished buckling it on. "Yeah. Maybe."

Taylor looked him over. He had a fairly expensive combat suit - survival gear, armour patches, undersuit, and his belt, covered in pouches filled with various Dust bombs.

"You're prepared," she commented idly.

Edwin smirked. "Yeah, I am a little." He paused, frowning at Taylor, who was just wearing her blouse and trouser suit. "What about you?"

Taylor just smiled, before grabbing her trenchcoat and throwing it on. She buttoned it up almost meticulously, before picking up her knuckle dusters and slipping them on, examining each with a smile.

"Ready," she said shortly.

Edwin sighed. "I _definitely_ need to make you something better than those."

"Something to worry about later," she said, turning up the collar of her coat. "Right now, have initiation to get to."

* * *

The students gathered at the top of the cliff on the far side of Beacon. There was a smaller intake this year than in previous years, Jaune Arc noted as he looked along the line. He saw his children - Faye, who was clad in her armour and grinning eagerly, and Augur in his lighter gear, pensive and thoughtful. Near them, looking tense, he saw a girl who could only be Jo, a red cape fastened around her neck.

Glynda hadn't come down to the initiation - the events of the last week or so had made the Council concerned, and she had dedicated her time to speaking with them, redoubling her efforts to investigate the reason behind the attacks. So far, to Jaune's chagrin, they'd ruled out White Fang resurgents (though Blake had made a point of promising him personally that she'd look into it), Valesian Separatists, Atlesian militants and just about every other known agitator group they could have though of.

"Alright," he said to them. "I figure there's a few of you who have questions about the initiation process. I know certain details have been leaked on the net over the course of the last few years," and here he turned an eye on the smug smile on Faye's face, which dropped at his stern expression, "and I know that there's a lot of rumours, so I'm going to dispel them."

He pointed at the forest. "You're being thrown into the forest by the propellor plates you're standing on. You _will_ utilise a landing strategy to land, or you will be very, _very_ bruised. You will pair off with the _first_ person you make eye contact with. That person will be your partner for the full four year term. You and your partner will retrieve an artefact from the forest, whilst surviving the Grimm that have been known to infest the area."

There was a spate of murmuring from every person in the line, except his own children and a girl in a purple suit. Jaune took a breath.

"Are there any questions?"

* * *

Jo looked along the line. Erika didn't look too fazed by what Professor Arc had just said, but plenty of students' expressions echoed Jo's own - shock, confusion, doubts, even fear. She swallowed.

 _I'm ready for this,_ she told herself. _I_ am _ready for this._

"No questions?" Professor Arc asked after a moment. "Don't worry, it's not a trick. I make a point of being clear here."

"Um," one boy piped up. He was tanned and clad in light armour, holding what might have been a kind of harp in his hand. "What if we… well, don't get on with the person we're partnered with?"

Professor Arc smiled cordially. "You're going to be entering the world as Hunters, all of you. You might end up fighting the next Insurrection, or worse. If you can't handle one person for four years, how are you supposed to handle Grimm, to handle other Hunters in the future?"

The boy swallowed. "Uh, well, dealing with Grimm is somewhat easier than dealing with a grumpy dorm-mate. After all, you can kill a Grimm."

There was a spattering of laughter, and even Jo found herself cracking a smile, but Arc's expression hardened slightly.

"You think so," he said coldly. "You think Grimm are easy."

"N-no, sir," the boy said, his own face paling as he realised he'd said the wrong thing.

Arc brought one of his hands up, removing his glove to show a metal appendage that creaked and whirred as he flexed it. "Grimm are dangerous. _People_ are dangerous." He tapped his leg, the clinking noise revealing that it, too, was metal. "You've spent years being coddled, _all_ of you, no matter how good you _think_ you are. That stops now. _Now_ , you get to learn how hard the life you've chosen can truly be. What you're looking at," he finished, flexing his hand again, "is one of the _easier_ things to deal with."

"Dammit, Dad," Jo heard Augur mutter from nearby. She looked across at the twins, and saw that both of them looked downcast, with Faye's expression somewhat irritated as well.

"Are there any _other_ questions?" Arc asked.

It seemed like no one wanted to speak up after that, and Jo couldn't say she blamed them. It was a sobering thought to realise that Professor Arc had been so grievously injured.

"Right then," Arc said, holding up his organic hand. "Prepare yourselves."

Jo tensed, looking down at the propellor plate with a frown, suddenly feeling nervous.

"You'll be fine," she heard Erika say from next to her, and she turned to see the girl smiling at her reassuringly. "I promise."

Jo smiled back. "Thanks."

And then Arc lowered his hand, and students began being propelled towards the woods.

"Express delivery service to hell!" Faye called out with a whoop. "Watch out baby, here I -"

And she shot off, screaming with joy as she did so. Augur rolled his eyes as he too shot off, then Erika followed, and then with a sudden jolt -

Jo was flying.

* * *

 **Omake 3: Oscar worthy.**

 **83 ABC.**

Oscar Pine was moving faster than he ever thought possible. The cane he'd inherited from Ozpin was a blur, blocking blow after blow from his opponent. He was giving ground, but it felt right to do so.

 _That's right,_ the voice was saying. _Let him think he's winning._

He blocked more blows, stepping back with every one, the cane always moving, catching strike after strike before they got the chance to touch him. He felt his limbs almost burning with the effort, but he knew the time was coming where he could -

 _There!_

He dodged one downward strike that extended itself a half-step too far, and then he lashed out, smacking his opponent in the face, before bringing his cane around and knocking his opponent to the ground with a vicious upward slash. He brought the weapon to his opponent's throat, before smiling.

"So," he said with a smirk. "How was that, Qrow?"

Qrow Branwen simply snorted, wiping the trail of blood from his nose. "You punched through my Aura with that last one. You need to work on your control."

"Actually," Oscar said, holding out a hand and helping the older man up, "that one was deliberate on my part. You need a little humility."

Qrow gave him a look. "Which Oz said that?"

"Both," Oscar replied with a grin. "Both is good."


	7. Six: The Jump, Part 2

**Six**

 **The Jump, Part 2**

* * *

 **Emerald Forest, 2nd September, year 106 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad).**

The Emerald Forest was silent, for a moment. The trees stood, apparently undisturbed by anything, their leaves rustling gently in the wind. There was silence - not even the sound of birds chirping or other animals at play.

And then, like a falling star, a figure in a blue jumpsuit and red cape slammed into the ground, soil and leaves exploding into the air around her as she landed, fist slamming into the ground. She had landed on one knee, just as she'd practiced with her father a half dozen times.

Admittedly, her landing strategy wasn't perfect. She took a moment to stand up, but was a little unsteady as she did so, almost losing her balance. She took a moment to steady herself, before looking around, taking in the forest.

"Ok," she murmured to herself. "Ok."

The forest was still calm, despite her rather explosive landing: there was no sign of anything, either her fellow students, or Grimm. She took a deep breath, steeling herself, before starting to walk.

 _So_ , she thought. _Artefact from the forest. Where the hell is that supposed to be? Couldn't have bothered telling us, could they?_ She snorted. _Guess that's part of the test -_

Her thoughts were cut off by what sounded like a distant growl. Jo tensed - was that a Grimm? She felt her fists clench almost instinctively, and she walked slower, half crouched, like a coiled spring.

 _Maybe_ , she thought, _I can get the drop on the thing? If it doesn't see me -_

That line of thought was promptly cut off by the crash of trees, as a large black shape hurtled towards her. Moving faster than she thought she could, Jo dodged sideways as a thing that could only be a Grimm crashed towards her… before landing in a slowly dissolving heap about five feet from where she had been. Jo's eyes were wide, and she looked up, to see a muscular girl with long, messy blonde hair and pale skin racing towards her. Their eyes met for a moment, before the girl turned back the way she had come, bringing up what looked like a pair of metalworking hammers and firing rounds from them back in the direction she'd come.

Jo tensed again as she realised more Grimm were coming from that direction - they were big and spiky: they could only have been Beowolves. As Jo watched, they reached the girl, who adjusted her grip on her hammers and lashed out at the monsters, the weapons hitting heavily, smashing one of the Beowolves into the dirt in one strike.

Taking advantage of this, Jo sprang forward, moving to block another Beowolf from reaching the girl. The thing lashed out, but Jo managed to block its slash with her elbow, before grabbing the thing, planting her feet, and throwing it into a tree with a single heave. She turned back and kicked out at another Beowolf, its neck making a sickening crack as she put full force into the strike.

There were two more, but the other girl had already laid into them, her hammers stunning and then bludgeoning the creatures to death with blows that were almost too fast to see. With a final flourish, the girl connected her two hammers at the bottom of their hafts and extended the shaft out, before spinning her now double-ended warhammer and smashing it into the ground, causing a shockwave that finished the remaining Grimm all at once. Jo steadied herself at the force of the blow.

There was a moment of silence as the two stood.

"Wow," Jo finally said. "That was… wow." She let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. "Like. _Wow_. _Whoa_."

She felt unsteady on her feet - adrenaline had kept her going during the brief fight, but now it was over she felt almost shaky. Before she could fall, however, the girl had stepped towards her and reached it a steadying hand, giving Jo a quizzical look.

"I'm… I'm fine," Jo said with an attempt at a reassuring smile. "Just… that was my first time. You know. Killing things. Never…" She coughed, feeling ridiculous. "You know."

The girl nodded, before smiling. She held out a hand.

"Nova Valkyrie," she said.

"Jo Xiao Long," Jo replied, taking the hand. "So, I guess we're partners."

Nova nodded. Now that the fight was over, Jo took in her appearance: far plainer than anyone else Jo had met whilst she had been here so far, a simple tank top over plain cargo pants, easy to move in and fairly sturdy. The only notable thing was the symbol on her top - a heart over a lotus flower.

The two of them stood in silence for a moment.

"So, uh…" Jo said. "Any ideas about where these artefacts are supposed to be?"

Nova shrugged.

Jo nodded slowly. "Ok… uh, so, which way should we…"

Nova smiled, before motioning back in the direction she had come from with her head.

Jo frowned. "You sure?"

Nova nodded, and with a smile she dashed off, leaving Jo to follow, still shaking her head at the quiet girl.

* * *

Erika was brushing down Greenstone. Though she'd made certain to keep it whetted the entire time, the landing had scratched the surface of the sword somewhat. She frowned slightly: that was something she'd need to work on with her landing strategy. It was hardly going to be something that came up that often, but it was better to know what she was doing.

There were noises from further in the forest: the sound of battle. She briefly considered her options: she could race to the fighting and help her fellows out, or she could avoid the fighting and make for a different path.

With the smallest of shrugs, she began jogging in the direction of the fighting. It was, after all, what she was here to do.

After a few moments, she came across a student in what could have been an Atlesian uniform, firing a small hand cannon that seemed to shoot sonic bursts at a group of Beowolves.

"Hi there!" he said cheerfully. "How are you?!"

Realising with a sigh that this was her new partner, Erika brought Greenstone up and slashed it through one of the charging Beowolves, before spinning and stabbing another through the gullet. It was only a small group, so by the time she had done this, the rest were dead. One last straggler seemed to be hesitating about charging in, but with a growl she leapt forward, pinning it with Greenstone. With a grunt of exertion, she twisted the blade and killed it, its body dissipating.

"There," she said, checking the sword for damage. She looked at her new partner, who was brushing his uniform off.

"Nice kills," he complimented. "I'm Richard Atreus. You?"

"Erika," she replied. "Erika Schreiten."

"I think I read that name in a history book once," Richard said with a small frown. "Small world, huh?"

Erika frowned, taking a subtle sniff. Something was off about her new partner, but she wasn't sure what it was. "Quite."

Richard chuckled, seemingly amused by… something. "Anyway, partner. Shall we find ourselves an artefact?"

"That would be wise," Erika said shortly. "Come on. There's the smell of other people this way."

She headed in what she believed was an Easterly direction, and she heard Richard following.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"Wolf Faunus," she said dispassionately.

"Oh," he said.

"Problem?" she asked, not looking around. Atlesians were occasionally more obviously racist than other nations - an unfortunate side effect of their culture.

"Nope," he said. "Just, er… surprised."

"Right," she said, taking another sniff. "Wouldn't be anything to do with that odd smell?"

"Odd smell?" Richard asked. He blinked. "Must be my detergent."

"I see," Erika said, sighing. "Just come on."

* * *

"Come on then, you Grimm bastards!"

Faye Kismet Arc was having the time of her life. She spun, blocking blows left and right, her sword Tower removing limbs and heads with fast, powerful strikes. She'd landed only a short distance from a group of Beowolves, who'd clearly seen fit to engage her.

Their mistake.

 _I love this,_ she thought, as she lodged her sword in the sternum of one of the oncoming Beowolves. She grimaced as she tried to pull it free, but it refused to come, and she was forced to let go of her sword as another Beowolf charged her. Bringing Guardian - her shield - up, she blocked the blow of the creature, but was forced back several steps.

"You _bastard_ ," she hissed. Bringing her shield arm back, she pummelled the Beowolf in the face, slamming it in the face. Before she could finish it, however, an arrow slammed into its skull, and it slowly dissipated.

"Aw, come on!" Faye said irritably. She looked to her left, watching as Augur leapt from a tree, shooting another Beowolf through the eye socket with practiced ease. "I had that, you kill-stealing _ass_!"

Augur winked. "Partnered up?"

"Now I am, yeah!" Faye said, rolling her eyes. "I guess you and I really are inseparable."

"And, apparently, surrounded."

Faye glanced around - more Beowolves were crowding around, and with a grimace she realised that he was right. They were definitely surrounded: at least thirty of the angry Grimm around, all looking suitably menacing and homicidal.

"This should be fun," she said without preamble, raising her shield. She pointed to one of the Beowolves. "Would help if that Beowolf with my sword in its chest had died already."

Sure enough, the hilt of Tower was still sticking out of the Beowolf's chest, and it was growling in mixed pain and rage.

"So, you want the ten on the left or the ten on the right?" Augur said jokingly.

"I'll take twenty," Faye snorted.

Her brother grinned. "That's the spirit."

Before either of them could do anything but tense, however, there was a flash of explosions as a hail of small pellets landed amongst the Beowolves, sending several of them flying. The figure of a girl in a suit and trenchcoat was suddenly amongst the Grimm, kicking and punching at the monsters. Faye glanced to her right, and saw a boy in battle armour throwing Dust bomb pellets at the Grimm, pulling them from his belt.

Grinning, Augur began sniping the confused Beowolves, shooting a few of them in the head. One Beowolf charged at him, but Faye put herself between them, stopping the charge on Guardian.

"Problem?" she asked the Grimm with a grin. She slammed the top of Guardian into its chin, then slammed it into the thing's head, knocking it backwards. Suddenly, she saw a swish of metal, and blinked as she realised the girl in the suit had picked up Tower and beheaded the thing.

"Uh… nice swing," Faye said, as the girl looked at Tower.

"Hrm," the girl grunted, passing her Tower hilt first. "Nice sword."

Without another word, she moved on. The boy in the armour walked up to Faye and Augur.

"I'm Ed, that's Taylor," he said, smiling. "Uh, sorry if she's a bit… quiet."

"I would have said 'intimidating'," Augur commented, "but it's good. You guys got us out of a tight spot."

"Yeah, happy to help," Ed said with a smile. "Listen, we were gonna keep heading that way," he pointed in the direction Taylor had gone, "so you're welcome to come with."

Faye and Augur exchanged a glance. Faye shrugged.

"Sounds good to me," she said.

* * *

"This forest is pretty," Jo commented as she and Nova walked. The other girl nodded, but didn't say anything. "Makes you wonder what sort of artefact we're after."

The quiet girl simply shrugged, and Jo suppressed the desire to sigh.

"Uh, so - Nova," she asked. "What… what made you want to… y'know. Come here?"

Nova shrugged again. "Parents."

"Parents?" Jo repeated. "Y'mean, they were hunters too?"

Nova nodded, but didn't say anything more. She did, however, throw Jo a questioning look.

"Oh, me?" Jo asked. "I, uh, well, I guess I just… thought I could help people. Y'know?

Nova nodded. "Same." She paused. "It's good to help people."

Jo grinned - both in agreement and in relief that her new partner was actually willing to talk to her.

"It is," she agreed. "There was this train a few months back - there must have been a bomb or something - and I helped get people off. That's what made me realise I wanted to protect people."

Nova nodded as she listened, but then held up a hand. Jo frowned.

"What is it?" she asked.

Nova motioned for them both to crouch, and then pointed ahead. Jo followed her point, and grimaced slightly at the sight of a large, spiky Ursa ahead of them.

"How d'you want to play this?" Jo asked.

Nova held up her hammers, currently in their twin machine-pistol configuration, and motioned to the right. Then she motioned to Jo, before pointing straight at the Ursa, finishing with a punching gesture.

Jo paused for a moment, interpreting the motions. "You… you'll go right and distract it, and I'll punch it?"

Nova grinned and nodded, and Jo nodded back.

"Gotcha," she said. "Alright, whenever you're -"

And then Nova moved, dashing out, pistols firing. The Ursa yelped and growled in pain, turning to face her. With a scowl, Jo stood up, before dashing forward, her fist brought back. The Grimm turned a half second too late to avoid the slamming blow of Jo's fist cracking against its jaw, and it flew through the air.

Jo shook her hand, more out of reflex than anything else, and Nova jogged up to her, aiming her weapons at the downed Grimm. It stirred, and she unloaded, emptying her weapons into it.

"Nice," she commented.

"Thanks," Jo replied quietly, still shaking her hand. "I might start thinking about getting gloves though."

Nova chuckled.

* * *

"So far, so good," Jaune commented blandly. "Jo Xiao Long with Nova Valkyrie, Faye and Augur together, Edwin Nocturne and Taylor Hermann…"

"Erika Schrieten and young Richard," Porter Hall commented. "I've observed her behaviours: she seems quite focused. Hopefully she'll buck up his attitude."

"Yeah," Jaune said, frowning.

"Nothing from Headmistress Goodwitch?" Porter asked quietly.

"She's probably still conferring with the council," Jaune replied, looking back at him. "She'll keep us informed of… whatever it is she feels the need to keep us informed of."

"If you say so," Porter said quietly. "For myself, I'm simply grateful that we're being included. The government's paranoia was not helpful before, at least not in Atlas."

"No, it wasn't great here, either," Jaune said with a grimace. "But we've got the advantage: they're more willing to listen to us now."

"I suppose they would be," Porter said. "You and Ruby Rose won the war for them."

Jaune snorted. "Insurrection, Porter. We don't call it a war."

"Quite," Porter said. "Well, I shall head back to the school for the moment. I'll send Professor Mono down to continue observation shortly."

"Alright," Jaune said quietly.

He kept observing the woods, glancing down at his scroll every so often. He brought the observation of Jo back up, and sighed.

 _You've come a long way since I brought you to Tai's house, kid,_ he thought, feeling a cold shiver run down his spine. _But have you come far enough?_

* * *

 **Omake 4: Oobleck's Last Stand.**

 **Vale City Outskirts. 84 ABC.**

The attack had come swiftly and without warning, scattering much of the outer defences, but with sufficient effort, Teams RWBY And JNPR (or what was left of the latter) had managed to get most of the civilians out of the way of danger. The majority of the Grimm had been held off by Professors Goodwitch and Oobleck, aided by Qrow and the young Dreizan Templar, Toshiro Mono, who was in amongst the Grimm, spinning his Katana like a madman.

"Mine is the fury of a thousand suns!" he yelled, swinging the sword viciously and decapitating at least four Beowolves.

"They're thinning out!" Goodwitch called out.

"Of course!" Mono said with a vicious grin. "We are beyond their paltry skill."

"Watch yourself," Oobleck said, shooting a Beowolf that had been charging up on Mono's flank without the younger warrior noticing. He looked haggard, a single wound at his side bleeding profusely. "This isn't the last of them."

"He's right," Ruby said, jogging up to the group, Oscar Pine behind her, clad in his battered green cloak. "B-Blake spotted a whole other group moving this way. We need to evacuate."

Anyone who knew Ruby Rose knew that to her, the idea of fleeing was abominable, especially when faced with Grimm, but still - she was right. There were too many of them for their small group to hold, and the government weren't providing them with additional forces.

"Fleeing before these things?" Mono scoffed. "Why would we flee before such mindless beasts?"

"Because," came the too-old voice of Oscar, who looked more serious than a boy younger than Ruby had a right to, "this attack is not mindless. If we are to secure the perimeter of Vale, we must sacrifice this field."

Mono sighed. "Sacrificing a battle to win a Kingdom. I can respect that. It still galls."

"Yeah, well, at least we'll be alive at the end of it," Ruby said with a tried smile.

Oobleck coughed, clutching at his side. "You may wish to reconsider that position."

"Don't be silly," Ruby said at once. "You'll be fine, we just need to get you on an evac transport."

"Not this time, Miss Rose," Oobleck said surprisingly evenly. He took a sip of coffee. "This injury has perforated several organs. If I had access to immediate medical attention at the time it happened, I might have survived. As it is, I have been fighting with it for an hour."

Mono straightened. "I will remain with you."

"There's no sense to that, Mr Mono," Oobleck said. "Just… continue to watch your flanks. There's no sense being hotheaded forever."

Mono nodded. Ruby, for her part, looked suddenly lost, and Glynda, standing at the back of the group, looked mournful.

"Have no fear, Miss Rose," Oobleck said. "I have no objection to meeting death as an equal. It has been, as they say, a long time coming."

"There's a transport waiting for us further along," Oscar said quietly. "Come on."

Ruby followed only reluctantly, Mono heading up the rear. Last to leave was Glynda, who held out a hand.

"You've been a good friend," she said. "I wish it didn't have to end this way."

"If it had to end," Oobleck replied, "then it had to end. Everything ends. And I know that you, and the others, are all going to be okay."

Glynda smiled, and then she ran off.

Oobleck sighed as he took one last sip of his coffee. He paused, before moving to pour another cup… only to find that his flask had run out.

"Ah," he said, feeling a wave of irrational irritation. "Well, then."

He looked up as the sound of Grimm approaching reached him, and readied his weapon, feeling the edge of a feral growl in his throat.

"Alright, you Grimm bastards, come on," he said. "My name is Bartholomew J Oobleck, and I hate _all of you_."


	8. Seven: The Jump, Part 3

**Seven**

 **The Jump, Part 3**

* * *

 **Emerald Forest, 2nd September, year 106 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad).**

It was a while into their walking that Erika and Richard came upon a small series of ruins. There were a large number of pillars dotted about, split evenly into two rows, with what looked like small bottles on top of them.

"Interesting," Richard said quietly. He brought his sonic cannon up and approached, looking from left to right, before glancing back at Erika. "What do you think?"

Erika folded her arms, sniffing the air as she did so. "I'm not sure _what_ to think. Except that this is an open area. I'm not certain it's safe."

Richard snorted. "Of course it isn't safe, there's Grimm everywhere. But it'll be fine, I'm sure."

Erika kept her eyes peeled, looking around for any sign of anything untoward. There didn't seem to be any Grimm about, but that didn't mean -

"Hey, look," Richard said, cutting off her train of thought. "Most of them are in cages."

He pointed to one of the glass bottles, sitting atop a pillar on the left hand side of the ruins. Sure enough, most of the rest were sat within metal cages, but one bottle was free.

Rolling her eyes, Erika walked over to him, frowning at the bottle suspiciously.

"Pick it up?" Richard suggested.

Erika sniffed the air again. "I'm not sure I trust it. It could be a trap, or -"

With a grin, Richard grabbed the bottle. Erika snapped her mouth shut, staring at him with wide eyes.

"What's life without risk, eh?" he asked.

Erika didn't dignify that with a response. Instead she took the bottle from him and examined it.

"There doesn't seem to be anything special about it," she said quietly. "In fact, I think it might be an ordinary wine bottle."

"Huh," Richard said, leaning forward and narrowing his eyes to scrutinise the bottle. "It doesn't have wine in it… but I think there's something. Something solid."

With a sharp motion, he broke the bottle on the pillar, making Erika wince at the noise. Sure enough, there was a small roll of paper within the shattered remains of the bottle, and Richard picked it out from the shards gingerly, before passing it to Erika. She unrolled it.

"'I am known to the coward and the brave. The fledglings in their nests wish for me. I can be retreat, or freedom'." She looked up at Richard. "A riddle?"

"Huh," Richard said, frowning. "I'm terrible at riddles."

"I couldn't _possibly_ have guessed," Erika said irritably. "Still, now that we have the artefact, we should get back."

"Just like that?" Richard asked. "Don't you think we need to solve it?"

Erika sighed and looked over the riddle. "It shouldn't be too hard." She frowned. "'I am known to the coward and the brave"."

"Battle?" Richard suggested immediately.

"On it's own, maybe, but listen to the next line," Erika said. "The fledglings in their nests wish for me'."

Richard frowned. "Fledglings in nests?"

"And then, 'I can be retreat, or freedom'." Erika ran a hand through her hair thoughtfully. "It almost sounds like it could be…"

"Flight?" a new voice said.

* * *

Faye's little impromptu group - herself, Augur, the boy named Ed (who was obsessively checking the plates of his armour to make sure they were intact) and the quiet girl, Taylor, who'd not spoken a word since they'd met - were making what Faye considered to be reasonable progress. Taylor, her hands stuffed in her coat pockets, was leading the way, looking casually chilled out.

"So, do we know how far away this thing is?" Augur asked.

Taylor made a 'hrm' sound. Ed only shrugged.

"I'm sure we'll find something eventually," Faye said. "It's only a matter of time and patience."

"We'll never find it," Augur joked. "It needs you to be patient."

Faye flipped him the bird, but she was chuckling too. She saw Taylor look back at her, her expression unreadable, and then back to where she was going.

"Isn't that impractical?" Augur asked the girl, indicating the suit and trenchcoat she wore.

"Hrm," the girl grunted.

"She likes the suit," Ed whispered to Augur. "I've tried telling her I'd make her armour, but -"

"Everyone has own style," Taylor suddenly interjected. "My style involves being inconspicuous. Until I strike."

Faye raised an eyebrow. "You any good at the last part?"

"Grimm seemed to think so," Taylor said with a shrug.

Ed chuckled. "Taylor's… _unconventional_."

Faye looked at Augur, who shrugged as well.

"Nothing wrong with that," he said out loud. He frowned. "Hey, look, we're coming up on a clearing."

Sure enough, they were. The trees were getting more spaced out, and the sun was shining into a small clearing, complete with a pond, up ahead. Faye grinned and bounded ahead, jumping onto a large-ish rock and looking around.

"This… is really, really nice," she said looking around. She looked back at Augur and the others. "You seein' this, 'Gur?"

"Yeah, yeah," Augur said, grinning back at her. "It's nice. Don't think there's any artefacts around, though."

"Yeah, well, it's a landmark," Faye said, sticking her tongue out at him. "Means we can navigate from here."

"Alright," Ed said, bringing up one of his gauntlets. A small holographic display appeared, apparently a map of the surrounding area. "Yeah, I see where we are now."

Faye frowned. "You've got sat-nav?"

"Built-in," Ed said, smiling sheepishly. "I sent a little mini-drone out to scan the area as soon as we landed. Nevermores and the like usually ignore them."

Faye folded her arms. "So… you knew this clearing was here?"

"Not quite," Ed admitted. "The signal's a bit weak - can't really track our position relative to it, but…" He snapped his fingers and pointed to the map. "There! There's a small ruin nearby. The artefacts might be there!"

Taylor made another 'hrm'. "Perhaps worth a look."

Faye looked to Augur, who shrugged. "Can't disagree."

Faye nodded. "'Kay then. Shall we?" She looked at Ed's map. "Looks to be… thattaway."

She pointed in a vaguely Northerly direction, and began walking. She heard the others following behind her, and felt a sudden wave of cheer. She had a team with her, and even if it wasn't strictly her team, it was nice to be at the head of a group.

* * *

Approaching the ruins, Jo felt a wave of relief. She and Nova hadn't run into any more Grimm, but there had been weird noises throughout the woods that had given Jo pause. It hadn't been the most fun experience, that was for sure.

"Look," Nova said, pointing ahead of her. There were other students already here. Jo grinned as she saw Erika and another student - a boy who was, presumably, her new partner - conferring quietly over what must have been an artefact. Nova, meanwhile, had already bounded over to another - apparently without being noticed - and retrieved a piece of rolled-up-paper from a bottle.

"Flight?" she said out loud.

"Huh?" Erika's voice said as Jo reached Nova. She turned to look over at Jo and Nova, and gave a quick wave to Jo.

"Hi," Jo said.

"Hi," Erika replied. "You startled me a bit. Didn't smell you there."

"Sorry," Jo said. "I guess there's a lot of other smells about."

Erika threw a sideways glance at her new partner, who seemed oblivious, before she shrugged.

"I'll adapt," she said.

"You get a riddle, too?" the boy asked Nova.

The quiet girl shook her head and held up the piece of paper. Erika walked over to her and took it, frowning at it for a moment.

"Flight," she repeated. She looked up at Jo. "It's the answer to a riddle."

"What riddle?" Jo asked.

Erika held up her piece of paper and read it out. When she was done, Jo frowned, folding her arms.

"It does read a bit like a riddle and an answer, yeah," she said. She looked at the empty pillar Nova had retrieved her bottle from, then directly opposite to another empty pillar. "Maybe they're supposed to be related?"

"Maybe," Erika said quietly. "I guess we'll need to get these back."

Jo and Nova both nodded.

"Well, if we're going back," the boy said with a yawn, "can we do it soon? I'm getting tired."

Erika rolled her eyes. "I think that -"

There was a sudden rumbling that interrupted Erika's comment, and she frowned. Jo followed her gaze to the edge of the wood, feeling her muscles tense.

"Well," the boy said. "That's not gonna be good, is it."

* * *

After a short while, they still hadn't reached the ruins, but the trees were starting to clear. Faye felt cheery - this initiation stuff hadn't gone too badly. She was partnered with Augur, had met some people who didn't see, too objectionable, and hadn't had a real problem killing any of the Grimm she had encountered.

"Hey," she heard Augur say behind her. She turned to look at him as they walked. "You think it's a bit quiet?"

Faye frowned. "It's quiet. You think it's too quiet?"

Augur snorted. "This forest is supposed to be crawling with Grimm. That's why they throw us in here, right? All we've encountered is -"

"A big collection of Grimm?" Faye interrupted, smirking.

"Not big enough for this forest," Augur countered. "It's like…"

He paused, and so did Faye. Behind them, Ed and Taylor stopped as well. Ed frowned, bringing his gauntlet up. It seemed to be running some sort of radar program.

"There's something out there," he said, one hand straying to his belt.

Taylor made another 'hrm', stepping into a fighting stance. Faye, grinning, drew her sword, and she saw Augur nock his bow.

"Not gonna lie," he said, "I'm not liking this terrain for a fight."

Faye assessed the situation. She felt confident… but Augur was a cooler head than her, and if he was unhappy…

"Ed," she said, turning to the armoured boy, "how far do you think we are from the ruins? They'll be more defensible."

Ed sniffed, switching to his map. "I think… at a jog, we can get there in three minutes, but it's a guesstimate at best."

"'Guesstimate'?" Augur said with a raised eyebrow.

"Portmanteau," Taylor said gruffly. "More pressing matters."

Faye nodded. "She's right. Augur, you're at the rear, cover our asses. Taylor, Ed, the front. I can move to support whoever's in the most shit."

Ed chuckled. "We're all in shit if it's anything big."

Faye grinned. "We're Hunters, Ed. The Grimm'll be the ones in shit if they catch us."

She motioned, and the group took off. For a few moments, the rumbling was still distant, and Faye began to believe that whatever had been chasing them had gone in a different direction.

"They're still out there!" Ed called back at her. He was holding his gauntlet arm up as he ran, consulting his radar. "Not one big signal - looks more like…"

"Whatever it looks like, we'll deal when we get to the ruins!" Faye called at him.

After a few more moments, they broke from the tree line, where the ruins were up ahead. To Faye's surprise, there were students there already - she recognised Jo from earlier, standing with a few students she wasn't familiar with.

"They're two minutes behind us at best!" Ed gasped as the little group reached the ruins.

"What is?" Jo asked.

Ed glanced at the radar display with a grimace. "Uh… about fifty or more Grimm. Beowolves, Ursas… maybe some bigger ones."

Faye grinned. _Oh, now this is gonna be fun!_

* * *

Jo felt like the bottom had dropped out of her stomach. "Fifty."

"At least," the armoured boy said. "My scan's not that accurate. This only works based on motion."

"I knew it wasn't going to be good," Erika's partner said, looking pale.

Something seemed to snap within Jo. Suddenly, colours seemed brighter, sharper, more in focus. She looked around, suddenly weighing up their options. Flight was impossible.

 _Fight it is,_ she thought, surprising herself with how relaxed she felt.

"Names," she said, looking around. She pointed at Faye and Augur. "I know you two," and then at Erika and Nova, "and you two."

"Richard Atreus," Erika's partner said helpfully.

"Uh, Edwin Nocturne," the armoured boy said.

A girl with a trenchcoat over a purple suit sniffed. "Hrm. Taylor."

"Right," Jo said, sizing them all up. She motioned to the ruins. "This is a defensible position. This is the best place for us to hold a line."

"She's right," Richard said, looking over the ruin. "Walls around three sides - the Grimm will be funnelled in one direction."

Jo nodded. "Right. Here's our play -"

"Who put you in charge?" Taylor asked, hands entrenched in pockets.

"Hey," Faye said angrily. "If she's got a plan, I say let's hear her out."

"Estimate fifty seconds!" Edwin put in.

Faye looked at Jo, who nodded gratefully.

"Right," she said. "Faye, Erika, Nova. You guys are frontliners, right? Hold a front line." She looked at Richard. "Ranged?"

"Yeah," Richard said.

Jo nodded again, pointing to one ledge on the wall. "Take that position." She looked at Augur. "Opposite side."

Augur nodded and bounded into position. Richard straightened, before walking to his appointed place.

Letting them do their thing, Jo turned to Edwin and Taylor. "You two?"

"Hrm. Frontline," Taylor said.

"I can, uh, lay down range support," Edwin said.

Jo nodded. "Positions."

They moved and Jo moved to stand on the front line.

"We're the anvil," she said loudly so everyone could hear her. "We hold the line. They hit us, you snipe them, alright?"

This last comment was addressed to Edwin, Augur and Richard, who all nodded.

"Fifteen seconds!" Edwin called.

"This is going to be fun," Faye said, her tone one of relish.

"If we survive," Erika said blandly.

"We'll win," Jo said, still feeling that odd calm as she settled into a fighting stance. "We're at optimum efficiency."

"Say what?" Faye asked, but before anyone could say anything, the tree line broke… and a bride of Grimm charged across the field.

There were at least seventy or eighty, mainly Beowolves, but Ursae as well, all of them pelting towards the students. They looked fierce and furious, and for a moment, Jo felt her resolve falter.

 _Hold the line,_ she thought to herself. _If those things want to lay a hand on my friends, they'll have to kill me first._

* * *

Richard brought his snuff box out quickly. Ordinarily, he'd never have dared bring it out in the middle of a field - much less in front of seven complete strangers - but he didn't feel confident about surviving this, so a final hit felt appropriate.

The hit reached his mind in seven seconds flat, and his mind sharpened, time feeling like it was slowing down.

 _The sleeper must awaken,_ he thought idly. _Reality is as much a dream as anything else. And a dream can be controlled._

Suddenly, his fear dissolved. He brought Atreides up, aiming the sonic cannon at the line of the Grimm, and he grinned.

"The sleeper has awoken," he said idly, and he began firing.

With the MindDust sharpening his senses, the creatures were almost going in slow motion, letting him aim with ease. Even if he hadn't been aiming with the enhancing Dust, though, the creatures were moving so thickly that he would have been bound to hit something. Opposite him on the other side of the ruins, he saw the boy with the bow shooting as well.

 _I wonder if any of them will be pink,_ he thought as he fired at the creatures. He aimed and fired, exploding the head of an Ursa in a shower of shadowy gore that dissipated as soon as it left its vessel.

"There's too many!" he heard someone yell.

"That's not really fair to say," Richard called out. "I imagine for them there's just enough!"

"That isn't comforting!" whoever had yelled called to him.

"It isn't to us, no," Richard agreed. He blew a Beowolf's chest apart with another shot. "But then, it wasn't meant to be. Just an observation."

* * *

Augur and that Richard guy's shots were thinning the horde, but not enough. Faye tensed as the first Beowolves approached the line of Hunters.

"Go!" she heard Jo yell, and like a bullet, Faye leapt up, bringing Tower down in a slashing move that stunned one Beowolf, before finishing it with a stab through the skull. Another charged her, but she blocked its claws with Guardian and cut at it, driving it back.

Behind her, side glanced Taylor kicking and punching through Beowolves, her knuckledusters carving through them. Jo, too, was punching, her blows like thunderbolts that sent Grimm flying backwards.

 _Damn,_ Faye thought for a moment, grinning at the dark haired girl's moves. _Here I thought brawlers were out of style._

Bringing her attention back to the present, she ducked a strike from an Ursa, lashing out with Tower and cutting the thing's arm off at the elbow. It screamed for a moment, and then the Faunus girl - Erika, wasn't it? - stabbed it through the chest. It went limp and then dissipated.

"Back to back!" the girl shouted as more Grimm went for the two of them.

Faye obliged, bringing Guardian up. "Nice kill!"

"Thanks," Erika said. "You gave a good opening."

"You ain't seen nothing yet," Faye promised with a grin.

* * *

Jo blocked an Ursa's blow with her elbow, grimacing at the effort of not budging as the thing pushed. It gave her an almost confused expression, which she couldn't help but grin at, before she grabbed the arm and pulled, tearing it out of the socket. The creature gave an ear-piercing howl, before Jo swung its own arm around, the limb only barely dissipating. She smacked the Ursa across the jaw, once, twice, and a third time, sending it sprawling onto its back as the arm disintegrated.

She saw Nova swinging her twin hammers around, the girl knocking the Beowolves about like they were bowling pins. She was pushing far forward, though…

"Watch out!" someone yelled, and suddenly Taylor was behind Nova, intercepting an attack from a Beowolf.

The suited girl punched her way through a pair of Beowolves, but more were coming up behind her. Noticing this, she grabbed Nova, before the two of them suddenly disappeared in a flash of white energy - only to reappear closer to Jo.

"Here," Taylor said gruffly, shoving Nova to Jo. "Stay out of my way."

She dived back into the fight, punching through more Grimm.

Jo nodded to Nova, who gave her a small, worried smile. Jo couldn't blame her - there were a lot of Grimm running around.

Suddenly, Nova's eyes widened, and Jo looked in the direction she was looking. What she saw horrified her.

 _No,_ she thought, and she moved.

* * *

At that moment, Faye thought she was on top of the world. She was killing any Beowolf that dared get in her face - and despite her hefty kill count at this stage, there were a few - and Erika seemed to be holding her own, too.

 _Not bad,_ she thought about her impromptu comrade. _I guess these bastards aren't nearly as tough as they -_

"Look out!" she heard Erika call. She half turned, only to feel a heavy impact slam into her back. Falling hard onto the ground, Faye rolled, her eyes widening as she realised that an Ursa was glaring down at her… and she'd lost Tower and Guardian.

 _Shit,_ she thought absently as the thing reared up, getting ready to strike. Faye glared at it, as though her very stare could kill it, and then it came down…

… and slammed into the red-cape clad form of Jo.

Faye blinked in shock. It was definitely Jo: she had grabbed both the creature's wrists, and was grimacing slightly.

"No," she hissed, before breaking both the wrists with a sudden harsh cracking sound. She brought one fist back as the Ursa moaned in pain, and punched the thing in the face, shattering its jaw and sending it flying backwards.

"Shit," Faye swore, her voice little more than a breathy whisper. "That was…"

Jo turned and looked at her. "You ok?"

"Yeah," Faye said, coughing. "Yeah, I'm great. Damn, that was…"

"Yeah," Jo said, giving her a smile. She helped Faye get to her feet, before looking around.

"Doesn't look like there's many left now," Faye grinned. "Come on, I'll race ya to finish these last few off."

She dashed off, slamming into a Beowolf and leaving Jo standing behind her.

* * *

 _Not many left,_ Richard thought idly, sniping another one. He tilted his head. There were a few pink Beowolves wandering about, but he was sure they weren't real. And if they were, they weren't a threat, since they were watching from the tree line with tea in their claws.

"Hey, snipe a few on the left!" he heard someone yell.

He didn't know who it was, but there was still a cluster surrounding the girl with the hammer on the left, so it was probably worth letting a few shots off. He knocked three of the things over, before the last two were sent flying by the hammer-wielding girl.

And then it seemed to be over. The majority of the Beowolves were dead, and one Ursa was left, fighting his partner. He brought his weapon up and shot it just as it reared to strike, and then he saw Erika run it through. She turned back and waved at him, and he waved back.

 _Well,_ he thought, _that wasn't so bad._

* * *

A straggling Beowolf fell, an arrow placed in its eye, but most of the creatures were dead. Erika, Taylor and Nova had pushed through the horde, beating most of them down with ease, although both Taylor and Nova had little scratches all over them. Faye breathed a sigh of relief - it could all have gone a lot worse than it had.

"Well," Augur said, hopping from his ledge and approaching Faye. "Maybe we should find ourselves those artefacts?"

"They're here," Ed called, waving from one of the pillars. He held up a bottle, before breaking it and taking the piece of paper from within.

"What's it say?" Jo asked him.

"I am that which binds all, that which cannot be escaped, that which you always meet at the end," Ed said, frowning. He looked up at Taylor, but the girl just shrugged.

Faye walked over to another pillar, where a bottle had just been freed, and she picked up the thing with a frown, before smashing the bottle and reading the one word answer.

"Well?" Jo asked.

Faye grinned. "It says, 'Fate'."

Ed looked at Taylor, who shrugged.

"Never one for riddles," she said.

* * *

"Faye Arc, Augur Arc, Taylor Hermann and Edwin Nocturne," Glynda Goodwitch said primly as the group stood upon a podium. "You collected the riddle of Fate, and it seems fitting therefore that you should work together as Team FATE, led by Faye Arc."

Jo clapped and smiled as she saw Faye give a beaming smile. She slapped her brother on the shoulder, and the newly minted Team FATE walked down the stage.

"Our turn," Erika muttered from next to Richard, wrinkling her nose.

"Should be fun," he said with a smile.

"And finally," Glynda said, as Jo led her group onto the stage. "Jo Xiao Long, Richard Atreus, Nova Valkyrie and Erika Schreiten: you unlocked the riddle of Flight, and so you shall take flight as Team JRNE."

 _Team Journey,_ Jo thought, smiling.

"You will be led," Glynda continued, "by Jo Xiao Long. Congratulations."

As the crowd cheered, Jo looked out at them and felt her smile widen.

 _This is the beginning of something wonderful,_ she thought. _I can feel it._

* * *

 **Omake 5: The Land of the Bloody Handed God**

 **The Continent of Dæmos. 86 ABC.**

The fortress loomed above them, dark towers and ornate architecture rendered dark and gloomy under the red sky. It should have come as no surprise that Salem's fortress was on Dæmos.

The continent had always had a less-than-savoury reputation: long ago, according to legend, there had been a great sorcery enacted in the mightiest kingdom upon Remnant. That sorcery had tainted the land of Deimos, the nation that had ruled the continent, and destroyed most of its people. The sky had been cursed and split, and the land had been warped. The power of that sorcery had turned Deimos into a hellscape of crags and spires of rock upon a blood-sodden, dead soil.

"The stories aren't all exaggerated," Oscar Pine commented as he trudged along the ground. He wore a battered green travelling cloak over his old shirt and trousers, and he clutched Ozpin's cane like a life preserver. "The world was different before Deimos fell."

Oscar came out with a lot of stuff like that. Qrow took it in stride - once Qrow had explained that Oscar was a reincarnated version of Ozpin (or something), he had seemed content to follow the boy's lead and trust his wisdom, even when the boy himself didn't seem to.

For Ruby, there was a little less trust. After all - she had seen a lot of things happen over the last few years. A lot of friends get hurt. It still hurt her that she couldn't take her friends with her to face Salem, once and for all.

"Against her," Oscar had said as they flew to the continent, speaking with the borrowed words of Ozpin, "your friends won't stand a chance."

"And Qrow will?" Ruby had replied.

Oscar had looked less than happy. "No, he probably won't, but he's Qrow. _You_ try stopping him."

"So," Qrow said, bringing Ruby's attention back to the present. "How are we gonna play this?"

Oscar looked pensive. "Salem… won't have guards."

"She won't?" Ruby asked.

Oscar gave her a sidelong glance. "She doesn't _need_ them. Nothing mortal can fight her, not one on one, and not even in numbers."

"Nothing mortal," Qrow said with a wry smirk. "But you and Ruby…"

"We stand a chance of inflicting damage," Oscar said, looking at the older man with a frown. "I still think -"

"No," Qrow said immediately. "I'm seeing this through to the end. I owe that much to Raven."

"If you say so, Qrow," Oscar said quietly. "But this won't end well."

Qrow flexed a fist. "When does it ever."

"Can I really beat her?" Ruby asked quietly.

Oscar looked back at her, giving his best 'reassuring Ozpin smile'. "You're a silver-eyed warrior. You're ready for this. Of all of us, you're the one with the best chance of actually beating Salem."

Ruby smiled back, but she didn't feel reassured. "All of this… Raven, Professor Oobleck, Jaune's arm and leg, Pyrrha, Weiss's injuries…"

"It will be worth it if we triumph here and end Salem's evil," Oscar assured her. "I promise."

Ruby nodded. "Then let's get to it."

"Yeah!" Qrow agreed. "Let's! I'm getting sick of all this standing around."

Oscar nodded. "Alright then. Follow me."

And so, trudging onward, the three marched across Dæmos, towards destiny.


	9. Eight: First Classes

**Eight**

 **First Classes**

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, 4th September, year 106 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad).**

"Jo?"

 _In the dream, she was flying. The wind was racing through her hair and past her ears, and she could look down and see the whole city of Vale. It was night, and the lights were twinkling, looking like a million fireflies in the blackness._

"Jo?"

 _She reared up, and suddenly she was above Solitas, flying over the colder regions and looking over the vast forests. She angled herself downwards flying over a dark green forest as the sun began rising._

"Jo?!"

 _And then she found herself landing at the edge of a cliff, staring over a valley filled with more trees. Standing on the edge of this cliff was a petite figure clad in a grey, battered cloak._

 _"Hello?" Jo said quietly. She reached out a hand, as if to touch the figure's shoulder -_

"JO!"

Jo's eyes snapped open, and with a small groan she sat up. She saw Erika standing over her, arms folded across her pyjamas.

"Lessons start in an hour and a half, and we still need to have breakfast," she said blandly. "And you need to set an alarm, because you are a _heavy_ sleeper."

Jo let out a small 'heh'. "Sorry, Erika."

The Faunus girl rolled her eyes and went over to the shower room. Richard was already dressed, wearing the updated Beacon uniform. Jo had seen a few pictures of her Dad in the old shirt-tie-blazer combination. By comparison, the black crew neck jumper and cargo trousers seemed a little informal, but on the plus side, it was a unisex uniform. And, Jo thought with a wry smirk, it was a bit more comfortable than a buttoned-up shirt.

Still, Richard seemed a little uncomfortable in it.

"You ok?" Jo asked him, giving him a smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. "This… just feels a little underdressed for a uniform."

"Not quite an Atlesian military dress uniform, huh?" Jo asked with a wry smile.

"No, not quite," Richard said, giving her a wan smile of his own.

A moment later, Erika came out of the bathroom, clad in the same uniform, though she looked distinctly uncomfortable too. Greenstone was girt at her side, the old sword belt clashing somewhat with the uniform.

"You need the bathroom?" she asked Jo.

"Uh, yeah," Jo said, smiling. "Where's Nova?"

"She… didn't tell us," Erika said, shrugging. "She got dressed before most of us woke up."

"Oh, ok," Jo said, feeling a little niggle of uncertainty. "I, uh, guess she went for a run or something?"

"Maybe," Erika said with a shrug. "I'm gonna go head to our first class."

"Oh, right, yeah!" Jo said with a quick smile. "It's, uh, History, right?"

"Combat Training first," Richard corrected. "Then History."

"Oh, right," Jo said. "I'll, uh, get dressed, then see you at Combat Training, then?"

"Right," Erika affirmed. "See you there."

And with that, she headed off, leaving Jo and Richard alone. He was looking at the wall above her head, his expressions slightly glazed.

"You ok?" Jo asked.

"You should go get changed," he said to her idly, not looking at her.

"Uh, yeah," Jo said, getting off the bed and grabbing her stuff. "Uh -"

Richard stood up. "I'm gonna head off, maybe explore a bit before class. See you at Combat Training."

"Yeah, see you there," Jo said quietly, entering the bathroom.

Richard nodded to her as the door closed, and then she was alone in the bathroom, nothing but her and the empty room.

 _Go team JRNE,_ she thought idly. _Feeling the love, guys._

She slipped her pyjamas off, and after a few moments she looked at her reflection in the mirror. The black uniform looked dull and bland on her, she had to admit, and her own miserable expression didn't help.

Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair, before opening the bathroom door - only to find herself facing Nova, who was holding her red cape.

"Uh, hi," Jo said. "The guys didn't know where you went."

"Early breakfast," Nova replied, still holding the cape.

Jo looked at it, before carefully taking it from Nova and slinging it around her shoulders, fastening it securely. Nova smiled once she'd done.

"Better," she said, before dashing off.

Jo took a deep breath. _Breakfast, then combat training, then history. We can do this._

* * *

Combat Training was the one most of the first years had been talking about, and most of the students were eagerly awaiting it. Toshiro Mono, according to gossip passed down from the students above them, was simultaneously one of the most terrifying and 'awesome' teachers in the entire school, and with the predictable masochism of teenagers, everybody wanted to see what he was like.

"I heard he kills students," someone whispered behind Jo as she took her place in the Combat Training lecture hall. Jo threw an incredulous glance over her shoulder, before looking at Erika, who shrugged.

"The power of the rumour mill," she said quietly. "What can I say?"

Jo chuckled nervously. Truth be told, having never received much of a formal education since she was young, she was still a little… unsure with all this. That being said, there were perks to this…

"Hey, Jo!" Faye whispered from across the way, throwing her a quick wave. "Didn't see you at breakfast!"

"Uh, got in late," Jo replied, smiling. "I don't really eat much in the morning anyway."

Faye snorted. "Gotta keep your strength up. Trust me - a Hunter's best friend is breakfast and bed. Sleep and energy. Every time, man."

Jo chuckled. "If you say so. I'll make an effort."

"How you finding it?" Faye asked.

Jo shrugged. "First day, y'know?"

"I hear ya," Faye said, winking. "You'll get there in the end, don't you worry."

Jo smiled, feeling a surge in her optimism. Faye didn't seem to be doing too bad. Surely this wouldn't be such a difficult experience, leading a team, being at Beacon…

"There will now be _silence_!"

A dread hush fell upon the room as that voice shouted out. Jo turned from Faye to look at the centre of the auditorium stage, where a man in a knee-length dark brown kimono was staring up at the students, a Katana girt at his side. He had stern, clearly Mistrali features, and a thick, bushy grey-black beard beneath a scowling pair of bushy black eyebrows. His hair was done up in a topknot.

"My name," he began, "is Toshiro Mono. I am the Combat Training instructor of Beacon Academy, dedicated to teaching you the arts of personal combat." He began pacing the stage, glaring at the students intensely. "With the aid of the skills you will gain in this room, you will transform from snivelling, spineless wretches, unworthy of the weapons your tutors handheld you through forging, and become the thin, impenetrable line between the human race and the creatures of Grimm."

Jo saw several students - including Richard and Faye - bristle at the implied insult of Mono's words.

"Do not mistake me," Mono continued, folding his arms. "No doubt you feel your achievements thus far have been impressive. I have examined the battle record of every team in this room. Team DSTY, who slew a Barowit, teams FATE and JRNE, who defeated a horde of Beowolves and Ursae, team AGSN, who destroyed a cave-dwelling Deathstalker… all of your teams successfully completed initiation, and that is to be commended. That is also the only reason I consent to teach you - you show promise."

Jo still felt like she was being insulted - Mono's entire demeanour was condescending, almost patronising. He looked around the room, and gave a small, cold smile.

"What is the first principle of the warrior?" he asked.

No one spoke up.

"No one?" he asked. "The path of the warrior is one you have all chosen to walk, and yet not one of you can tell me what the first principle is?"

Jo glanced around her. No one was speaking up - not even Richard or Erika, who she would have thought would know this.

Mono snorted, before bringing up his scroll. "Student Takeshi Hisakawa. The first principle of the warrior? Do _you_ know it?"

A boy in a similar kimono to Professor Mono's, sans the cloak, stood. "I would not presume to speak greater wisdom than my betters, sir."

Mono scowled. "Not even when asked the question?"

"My understanding is… lacking," the student - Hisakawa - said, bowing his head.

"I see," Mono said, shaking his head in disappointment. He looked at his scroll. "Then I will illustrate. Student Jo Xiao Long."

Jo's eyes widened as he read out her name, and with a slow gulp, she stood. "Uh, sir."

"To the front of the class," Mono said, indicating.

Slowly, Jo stood up, before walking to the front of the auditorium, feeling incredibly self-conscious as she did so.

"Jo Xiao Long," Mono said, as she stood in front of him. "Your father is Taiyang Xiao Long, yes?"

"Y-yes, sir," Jo said, stammering a little.

Mono paused, before leaning in closer to her. "Do I frighten you, Jo Xiao Long?"

Jo didn't know how to answer that, so she kept quiet, but Mono's expression hardened.

"I asked a question!" he suddenly snapped. "Do I frighten you?!"

"Y-yes," Jo replied quickly.

"Why?" Mono asked.

Jo gulped. "The - uh, the shouting is…"

"The _shouting_ ," Mono interrupted condescendingly, giving an incredulous chuckle. "And do you suppose shouting is more dangerous to you than the horde of Beowolves you faced down alongside your teammates?"

Jo blinked. "Uh… n-no, sir?"

"I cannot and will not cause you harm, Jo Xiao Long," Mono continued. "But the Grimm? They exist to _end_ you. Do you know how you will die?"

Jo didn't answer, as Mono began to circle her. Suddenly, he looked up, addressing the entire auditorium.

"Do any of you know?" he asked. "You have stepped into a path of life that is dangerous. Have you considered your deaths?"

No one spoke up. Mono turned around, until he was addressing Jo's back.

"You will die _young_ ," he hissed. "The bodies of your comrades surrounding you. That, or those of the people you have _failed_. You will die, sitting in a puddle of urine, terrified, facing monsters spawned from the depths of the hells, drawn from the very heart of your nightmares themselves." He walked around, until he was facing Jo again. " _That_ is your fate."

She didn't know how to react to that. She felt queasy, weak-limbed, like her legs had turned to jelly. All her resolve, her desire to come here, felt like it had turned to ash and blown away.

He turned to address the auditorium. "You have comforted yourselves with the lie that you are protected, that your skills and your weapons and your training make you somehow less vulnerable than those you are sworn to protect." He began pacing the stage again. "You have been _coddled_. Most Academy teachers try to pretend that the world is not dangerous. That you are entering into some fun adventure. But _I_ do not coddle."

He looked back at Jo, and suddenly he drew his Katana, aiming the tip right at Jo's nose. She looked down at it, almost going cross-eyed.

"The first principle of any warrior is _discipline_!" Mono snapped, looking right at her. "Discipline over the self. Discipline over the body, the mind, the spirit. Discipline over how one exercises them all. Discipline to bring them together, in unity, until you become as sharp as a blade!" He looked up at the rest of the students. "That discipline allows you to face the truth - that nothing, absolutely nothing, will prevent you from being hurt, being killed, except pure, blind luck. Your skill, your training, your weapons, none of these guarantee your survival. There is no guarantee. Accept this, internalise it, and realise that you are fighting to protect others, that your life is the price to save theirs. That discipline," he finished, sheathing his Katana, "is what you will learn. I will help you hone it. But it is your choice whether you choose to learn what I have to teach you."

He looked at Jo, who was still staring directly ahead of her, feeling shocked.

"Resume your seat, Ms Xiao Long," he said. "The lesson will continue with your groups learning the basic principles of combat training…"

* * *

"Wow," Faye said, coming up next to Jo as they left the auditorium forty minutes later. "That was something, huh?"

"Yeah," Jo said, feeling a little downbeat. Partially because her team had once more scattered to the winds, but mostly because of Mono's lecture.

The entire lesson had been interesting, to be sure, and once she had sat down Mono had begun explaining the different broad techniques - from ranged, to close, to brawler, to duellist, to mage - that made up the ways in which Huntsmen fought. Nonetheless, the entire speech - and the grim reminder that this was a lifestyle that was inherently dangerous - had left Jo a little off-centre.

"Don't worry," Faye said, smiling at her, "it's History next. That's probably nowhere near as heavy."

Jo smiled. "Yeah, you're right. I guess I've just been…"

"Faye!" Augur called over to her from where the rest of team FATE were walking ahead of Jo. "Come on!"

Faye waved at him, before turning to Jo. "Gotta go. Talk later, yeah?"

"Yeah," Jo said with a weak smile. "Definitely."

Faye jogged off, and Jo felt her heart sink as she realised that she still couldn't see any of her team. They'd left without her.

 _Well,_ she thought, _it's just History and then a free period. That'll be great. I can…_

She suppressed the urge to sigh. She could probably find a nice quiet spot to look lonely in without bothering anyone. That was what she could do.

* * *

History was taught by a tall, red-headed man in a knee length tweed coat, under which he wore a scruffy hoodie and a t-shirt. He waved cheerfully at the students as they entered, and a few waved back.

Jo wasn't one of them. She found her team sat on the left of the room, where Nova greeted her with a cheery smile and a silent wave. Erika and Richard were both at, arms folded, neither looking particularly happy.

"All ok here?" Jo asked.

Richard shrugged. "Fine."

Erika didn't respond, save for a small 'tsk' sound. Jo frowned, and resolved to ask about it later. If her team had issues, she supposed it was her job as their 'leader' to find out what they were.

Nova, for her part, looked cheery, but Jo found it difficult to tell with her since she rarely spoke.

"You ok?" Jo asked her.

She nodded, still smiling. "Good lesson."

"With Mono?" Jo asked, and Nova nodded. "Well, I'm glad you liked it."

Nova gave her a questioning glance, and Jo just shrugged.

"Alright," the teacher said, holding up both hands. "If I may have the attention of the class for _one_ moment, and possibly a few more after that, I would be grateful!"

The hubbub of the classroom died down and the teacher smiled.

"Excellent." He put his hands down. "My name's Richard Bowman, and I'm the doctor in charge of teaching you lot about history." He held up a hand as the students started groaning. "Now I know what you're thinking, because I suspect everyone thinks it at some point. _History_ , eh? All fact and dates and boring stuff. The battle of Calenhad happened a hundred years ago, blah, blah." He made a soft 'pfft' noise. "Well, no. I don't teach history like that."

Jo leant forward in her seat. Truth be told, she hadn't read up much on history since she was younger, so learning a bit about it here would be nice.

"Truth is," Dr Bowman said, "to me, History is just a fuddy-duddy way of saying _stories_." He leant forward, grinning at the students. "Our entire history is full of stories, from the Battle of Calenhad and the entire war of Vytal right up to the Fang Insurrection. These are the tales that shape the lives you're living." He began pacing, though where Toshiro Mono had made pacing look ominous, Bowman looked more like he just couldn't stand still. "For eighty years after the Battle of Calenhad, for example, almost everyone - with a few exceptions, like yours truly's parents - named their children after colours. Did you know that? Your parents might have colours in their names, or in the family name! So you see, the Battle of Calenhad was a massive part of our history, shaping the future!"

He stopped, looking back at the students, and Jo couldn't help but wonder where he got the energy.

"But now," he continued, "thanks mainly to the paranoia, fear and doubt spread by the Fang Insurrection, but also thanks to it ending in what is genuinely considered triumph, that tradition has largely been superseded. For five years, there were attacks, battles… our cousins in Atlas actually call it the Fang War, did you know that?"

Richard nodded subtly from next to Erika, who gave him a side glance that Jo might have considered worrying if she was paying more attention.

"The Fang War," Bowman repeated, "where students of this very school became heroes. Became more than that - beacons of hope, aspiration…" He tapped a button on his desk, and suddenly a 3D projection of a team of Huntresses about Jo's age appeared. "Beacons of hope like Team RWBY of this very institution!" He turned to look at the projection. "Everyone knows the names of Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose."

As he spoke, little nametags appeared next to each figure. Jo focused on the name Ruby Rose, appearing over a girl in a black dress with a red hooded cloak. She had black hair, silver eyes, and a very familiar face.

"With Blake Belladonna becoming the leader of the Menagerie government, the tragic death of Weiss Schnee in 88 ABC and Ruby Rose's disappearance," Bowman's voice was saying somewhere very far from Jo's attention, "this team of heroes has passed now into history, and no doubt soon into legend, but there's no doubt that thanks to their bravery and sacrifice, our world's future was assured…"

"Jo?" Nova whispered, and Jo broke from looking at the image of Ruby Rose to look at her partner. "Are you ok?"

Jo didn't know how to answer. She'd never seen a picture of Ruby Rose before, though she'd heard the name of her father's youngest daughter, but she knew the face very well.

After all: it was almost identical to the face she saw in the mirror every day.

* * *

 **Omake 6: Silver Eyes**

 **Vale. 84 ABC.**

Ruby Rose sat atop the hill, looking down at the city of Vale and wondering whether she would live to see the dawn. The lights of the city twinkled at night, even now with so many of the civilian population evacuated to the inner city or shelters in the centre.

"So," a voice said from behind her. "How are things going for you?"

Ruby half-turned her head, to see Oscar Pine staring at her from beneath his green cloak, his arms folded. He'd spoken with some of the confidence of Ozpin, and some of the tone, but it had been a while since he'd spoken directly like him.

"Well, Jaune says Pyrrha's better, and he's on the mend," Ruby said, "and Weiss is… alive. Which is good. They say they can fix most of the burns, and -"

"Ruby," Oscar said, smiling tiredly. "You know what I mean."

Ruby sighed. "I don't know if I'm ready."

"You've been practicing channeling the power," Oscar reminded her. "Your Silver Eyes will grant you -"

"I _know_ I have," Ruby replied, cutting him off, "but I'm still… I feel so unsure about everything. Like every choice I make gets someone hurt."

"Not _every_ choice," Oscar reminded her. "You saved Weiss - she would have been killed without your help."

"But Jaune lost his leg," Ruby replied. "Between that and his arm he's gonna be like Ironwood version two."

"With a better sense of humour," Oscar said with a grin. His smile faded. "The best we can hope to achieve against Salem's forces is… well, for us to not lose too many."

Ruby nodded slowly. "I still… What you told me…"

"The world has survived these events before," Oscar told her. "And it will survive again. If we hold to our beliefs, have faith, and don't give up. That's always worked in the past."

"And it'll work now," Ruby said, sighing. "I just wish I believed in myself."

"I believe in you," Oscar told her with a smile. "And so does Jaune, so does Weiss, so do Yang and Blake, Qrow and Port. Everyone believes in you. Believe in them, if you don't believe in yourself."

Ruby smiled again. "Thanks Oscar." She paused. "I guess that'll have to do."


	10. Nine: Where I Began

**Nine**

 **Where I Began**

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, 4th September, year 106 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad).**

The History lesson continued almost without Jo noticing. Bowman rambled about different teams from Beacon's history and the notable accomplishments they'd had, and Jo took a couple of notes - mostly random words which she assumed were team names, like Coffee and Funky - but her mind was full of what she'd seen in that massive projected figure.

Ruby Rose, her father's… her _adopted_ father's youngest daughter. She had never heard much about either of his 'real' daughters - Yang or Ruby - and neither of them had visited. He barely even had pictures of them - or indeed, any of his loved ones, though she knew he'd had them. If it hadn't been for the occasional slips, the brief reference to something Yang had owned or Ruby had enjoyed, or the occasional mentions she'd overheard from other people, she might not have even known they existed. The only time she'd asked him about them, he'd been quite clear that it wasn't his favourite subject.

* * *

 _ **99 ABC**_

 _"Dad," Jo asked, looking up at him from her old history book. He was busy writing something on his scroll. "Who's Ruby?"_

 _Taiyang didn't look at her when she asked that, but the steady tapping on his scroll stopped. "Ruby?"_

 _"Yeah," Jo said quietly. "You mentioned her to that man who came by."_

 _"Did I," her father said quietly. "Huh. She…"_

 _He trailed off, but Jo could tell he was thinking deeply about what she'd asked. She didn't think it was that big a deal - he'd mentioned her casually before, mostly in scroll conversations - but he looked… sad._

 _"Sorry," she mumbled. "Didn't mean…"_

 _"My daughter," he suddenly said. "Ruby is my daughter. Was. I haven't seen her in almost twelve years."_

 _Jo looked up at him again, and saw that he had tears in his eyes, though his expression hadn't shifted. He stood up._

 _"I'll go put dinner on," he said._

* * *

Ruby Rose had disappeared from all records in 88 ABC, the year Jo had been put into Taiyang's care. If the dates that Bowman had mentioned were right, she would have been in her 20s when Jo was given to Taiyang. The date was… suspicious, to say the least.

 _What could it mean?_ she wondered. _What if…?_

She couldn't finish the thought. For the longest time, the truth about her heritage had been something she'd only wondered about in the abstract. But then her father had brought it up again…

 _When you get back, we can talk about what I know._

When the lesson ended, Jo had quickly raced off, trying to find a quiet spot to not hyperventilate.

 _I'm overreacting,_ she thought. _Lots of people have dark hair. Lots of girls look that kind of young. My face is a little less cutesy. It's… it's…_

The nose had been identical, and though Jo's eyes were a cheerful blue, they were the exact shape Ruby Rose's were. The jaw wasn't right, but the hairline was, and though Jo lacked the red tint to her black hair, both their hairs had the same consistency.

 _Is that what he tried to hide from me?_ Jo thought. _Is that the big secret? That I'm some abandoned daughter of some hero?_

What was it Bowman had said about Ruby Rose during that half-listened-to lecture? _"After the war Ruby maintained only loose ties with her team, her old school, and indeed society as a whole. She disappeared in 88 ABC, leaving no sign of where she had gone and no message with her family."_

Two years between the end of the Insurrection and the day Jo was left at an old brawler's house. Plenty of time to get pregnant… and to abandon the child with her own father.

 _Is that what I am?_ Jo found herself thinking. _Some… some abandoned, unwanted castoff some war hero left behind so she could go die in a hole somewhere far away from civilisation?_

She scowled at herself for the unworthy thought. It wasn't fair to this unknown woman. Actually, it wasn't fair to _whoever_ her mother was.

 _But screw fair!_ some part of her yelled. _Screw fair! I was left with someone who wasn't my father, because - because what?! Because they wanted to go somewhere? Because they didn't plan for me? I didn't fit in their life?! What was it?! What…?!_

"Uh, Jo? You okay?"

Jo looked up from her thoughts, to see the face of Faye. She'd changed into her combat gear, though she'd left most of the plate off, instead going for a light leather coat over a bodysuit. She was looking at her with what Jo would have called genuine concern, which managed to calm her down a little.

"Jo?" Faye asked when Jo didn't reply.

 _She's here to see if I'm okay,_ Jo thought, blinking.

"I'm… I'm fine, I just…" she said, her voice quiet and halting. "I…"

"You've not been great since the History lesson," Faye told her. "Your teammates said they saw you head out here without so much as a 'see you later'."

Jo snorted. "Seems par for the course."

Faye frowned. "Everything okay with you guys?"

Jo wanted to rant, to rave, but Faye's expression just made her melt away. Faye looked worried - worried for _Jo_. That was… surprisingly comforting.

 _At least I've managed to make one friend in this place._

"I…" she began, feeling suddenly foolish. "I dunno. I just… I don't think I can do this."

Faye let out a soft 'ha', but stopped short of laughing as she realised Jo was serious, her expression sobering up.

"Jo," she said, "it's been a day. _Less_ than a day. Most people get the whole existential angst about their team and their place in it after a few days, or a week or something."

"The team's not the problem," Jo said quietly. "Or… not all of it, anyway. I mean, they're all nice enough, but I don't really know any of them that well, and…" She knew she was rambling, but she didn't care. "And… and I'm being asked to be their 'leader', but I don't know how to lead anyone, y'know?"

Faye held up a hand. "Slow down there, Jo." She gave a small smile. "I get it. It's… overwhelming. I get that feel."

Jo snorted. "Sure."

"Hey, I'm serious," Faye said, sitting next to Jo. "If I didn't have Augur I'd be a hot mess right now. I don't know Taylor or Ed from Olympus right now. This?" She waved a hand over herself. "This whole 'confidence' thing? Bullshit. It's a mask, and you put it on so people think you're in control, even when you're not."

Jo smiled incredulously. "Really? You're serious?"

"Believe it," Faye said, looking more serious than Jo had seen her.

"I just…" Jo didn't know how to respond, feeling her words fail her.

"You didn't think I was the least bit nervous or scared or anything," Faye said. "Yup - that's cos the mask's _working_ , hon. I've always been _very_ good at looking like I know what I'm doing."

Jo giggled. "You called me 'hon'."

Faye blinked. "Huh. Yeah. I did. I don't even say that word." She started giggling, too. "Damn, I bet I sounded stupid."

"No," Jo said. "Not really. Silly. Not stupid."

Faye lightly smacked her arm. "I can still smack you around, y'know, brawler."

Jo snorted. "I bet you could."

"Damn straight." Faye's smile faded slightly. "Okay, so you said the team wasn't the problem. So what was?"

Jo's smile faded. "I… it's stupid. It can't be what I think it is."

"What you think what is?" Faye asked, frowning.

Jo sighed, running her hand through her hair. "You… You saw the picture of Ruby Rose, the girl from Team RWBY."

"Yeah…" Faye said slowly. "I mean, we all did. Heck, Mom and Dad were in Beacon when they were, we probably have some old pictures of her lying about."

"Then…" Jo said, looking at Faye. "You don't think she looks like me?"

Faye looked at Jo, before frowning. "Well, you've kinda got the same sorta head and stuff going on. But…" She paused. "Shit, Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose were sisters - Yang's dad is your dad, right?"

"Yeah," Jo said. "He's… he barely mentions them, really. And I never pressed it. But I'd never seen a picture of Ruby before. Not ever. Now that I have…"

"What, you think you're related?" Faye asked, raising an eyebrow. "I mean…"

"I mean, I think she might be my mom," Jo said, cutting Faye off with a look. "She disappeared the year Dad adopted me. For all I know, she dumped her kid on her dad and -"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Faye said, holding up both hands. "Hold the scroll, here. You think your mom is _the_ Ruby Rose?"

"She could be?" Jo said with a shrug. "I mean… I saw that picture of her, and it was like looking in a weird mirror."

Faye looked sceptical, but then she sighed.

"Look," she said, "I don't know much about her. But I know she knew my Dad. I can try to ask him if he knows, if you like?"

Jo smiled. "Thanks, Faye." She took a deep breath. "I just… this has been a bit of a shock to the system. Y'know?"

"Yeah, I get that," Faye smiled. "Don't worry, okay? I've got your back." She paused, almost hesitating. "And your team will have your back, too. Yeah? Trust 'em."

"How do you know?" Jo asked.

"Because people are good people," Faye said. "And because anyone who doesn't see how awesome _you_ are isn't a good person." She gave Jo a big smile. "You saved my neck in initiation. I'm not gonna forget that in a hurry."

She stood up, beckoning for Jo to do the same.

"Come on. We've all got practice time scheduled next and the teachers will probably be watching the new first years train," she said, sounding eager for the chance to show off. "We don't wanna miss out."

"Okay," Jo said with a smile. "If you say so."

* * *

The training area that Faye led Jo to was a large, circular arena in one part of the grounds, with a few benches and chairs surrounding it so others could watch the training students. A few students were practicing already, sparring against each other or against the practice drones that were dotted about.

Jo spotted her team with the rest of team FATE, having a conversation. They'd all changed into their various combat gear, too, leaving Jo feeling underdressed.

 _Not that my gear's that different to this uniform anyway,_ she thought wryly.

"Hey, you guys!" Faye called over to them, and they looked her way, waving at her and Jo cheerfully enough.

 _Good people,_ Jo thought.

Nova, for her part, bounded up to Jo with a worried expression. She pointed at Jo, then gave a quick thumbs up sign: universal for _'you ok?'_

"I'm fine," Jo told her with a small smile. "We'll talk later, okay?"

Nova nodded, giving her a smile, before pointing back at the rest of the team and bounding back. Chuckling at her partner's eagerness, Jo followed her.

Erika and the nervy boy from team FATE - Edwin? - were having a conversation. Augur was sat on a bench, Richard next to him.

"... all I'm saying is, range is an important part of any Huntsman's - or Huntress' - repertoire," He was saying, sounding more nervous than insistent. "I mean, I'm almost entirely dependent on range to keep the Grimm at bay."

"And so if a Grimm corners you?" Erika asked, folding her arms.

"I, uh… improvise," Edwin said, scratching the back of his neck.

"Usually has me with him," his partner, Taylor, put in. The girl had her usual trenchcoat on over the crew-neck jumper, but had the sleeves of both pushed up casually. She cracked her knuckles. "Better up close."

Erika threw her a glance. "And if you're not around?"

Taylor shrugged. "Doesn't happen."

"It _could_ ," Augur put in, his arms folded as he sat on his chair. "As much as this whole team dynamic thing in Beacon is supposed to make us able to work with others, we're going to be professional Hunters, and that means more often than not we'll be working solo against Grimm."

Taylor snorted. "Speak for yourself."

"Look," Edwin said, holding up a hand. "I'm happy to admit my shortcomings if you'll admit that Greenstone isn't going to be enough for you."

Erika sighed. "Alright, Mr Ranged Expert. What do you recommend?"

Edwin ran a hand through his hair. "Ideally? You pick a secondary weapon, one that enhances your ranged capability. Or…"

"Or?"

Edwin smiled sheepishly. "Or, I make you one. I've got a workbench already set up in my team's dormitory -"

"He's not kidding," Augur put in. "Thing's a bitch."

"I'm already drawing up plans for a weapon for Taylor," Edwin continued. "I don't see why I couldn't come up with something for you - like a pistol, or -"

"I don't do guns," Erika said sharply. At Edwin's shocked look, she grimaced. "Sorry, it's just… my family have poor experiences with guns. I've never trained with one."

"Ah," Edwin said, frowning thoughtfully. "I'm sure I can come up with something."

Jo folded her arms: this entire discussion had been. "If _she_ needs range, don't I?"

"Uh… I'd advise it," Edwin said, "but…"

"Nah, Jo's fine," Faye cut him off. "Did you see her take out that Ursa?"

"The one that had you on your ass?" Augur asked with a smirk.

Faye gave him a dirty look. "Yeah, that one. She can handle herself. Brawler for the win."

Edwin looked Jo over, making her feel a mite uncomfortable at the analytical expression he had, but he said nothing.

"Well," Faye put in with a small cough, "I don't know about you guys, but there's a perfectly good training yard that ain't gettin' nearly enough mileage. I plan on getting some rounds against those drones - unless," and here she gave a smirk, "one of you guys wants to try your luck."

Edwin snorted. "No, thank you. I'll stick to drones."

Erika rolled her shoulders. "I'll go a few rounds."

Faye smirked, looking her up and down. Erika was wearing her usual light gear, matched by a green coat that went down to her knees: she didn't exactly look overly prepared, but everyone knew that she had done well frontlining against the Grimm when the two teams had gone through initiation.

"This," Team FATE's leader said, "I gotta see."

Erika simply tilted her head, before walking toward one of the open arena spaces, drawing Greenstone as she did so. Faye moved to the opposite side, bringing her shield, Guardian, up to a protective stance, her sword Tower resting atop it.

Jo folded her arms and looked at the two as they sized each other up. She didn't know who to root for - Faye was her friend, but so was Erika, even if they'd spoken less, and Erika was also her teammate.

 _This should be… interesting,_ she thought.

* * *

"Bets?" Augur asked with a wry grin as he sat back, watching the two girls at their ready stances. "My money's on Faye. She's _super_ competitive."

"I wouldn't underestimate Erika," Richard said, folding his arms. "She's pretty formidable with that sword."

Augur chuckled. "Care to make a friendly wager?"

Richard shook his head. "I've got loads of bad habits. Gambling isn't one of them."

Faye and Erika were both standing still, in their ready positions. It was as though they were each waiting for the other to be the one to break the stalemate. Faye had a little confident smirk on, one she always kept for fights - especially fights she wasn't sure she had an advantage in.

 _Wait your opponent out, size them up, and psych them out if you can,_ Augur remembered both their mother and father saying. _If they think you know something they don't, they might blink._

Erika didn't look like she was blinking, though. The Faunus girl simply had a neutral expression, like she was waiting for something.

 _Remind me never to play poker against her,_ Augur thought wryly.

"One hell of a game face, huh?" Richard commented, motioning to his partner.

Augur chuckled. "Took the words right out my mouth."

Suddenly, Faye darted forward, and Augur tensed almost automatically in his seat. Erika immediately dodged left, avoiding the charge. The Faunus lashed out, but Faye caught the blow with Guardian, deflecting it, before bringing Tower to bear. Erika blocked the blow, before redirecting Faye and throwing her off balance. She followed this with a shoulder charge that knocked Faye backwards.

"Whoo, Erika!" Richard called out. "Represent!"

Erika threw him a dirty look, which was all the opening Faye needed to charge back into the fray, throwing a hail of strikes in the Faunus girl's direction. Erika growled, parrying and blocking, but she was giving ground.

"Y'know," Augur said to Edwin, who was watching the fight with a neutral, thoughtful expression, "Faye doesn't have range either."

Edwin didn't say anything, but Taylor snorted from next to him. "Convincing her she needs to change her style seems unlikely."

 _Got that right,_ Augur smirked to himself. Out loud, he tsked jokingly. "Why, I don't have the foggiest idea what you could possibly mean."

Erika had managed to stalemate Faye's attack by this time, sidestepping her and getting back into the centre. She held her sword in a loose guard stance, narrowing her eyes slightly.

Faye rolled her shoulders, before settling into a defensive posture. "We done playing around yet?"

Erika snorted. "Who's playing."

Suddenly she dashed forward, bringing Greenstone down in a heavy arc that Faye barely blocked with her shield, before spinning and hacking at Faye's side, forcing her to dodge backward. Faye lashed out, only for Greenstone to catch her sword, and Erika to do a quick wrist flick that sent the shorter blade flying.

Scowling, Faye swung her shield at Erika, but the Faunus ducked, before tackling the redhead and sending her sprawling. Undaunted, Faye kicked Erika away from her, before bounding to her feet. She grabbed her shield and threw it at Erika, who knocked it out of the way with a quick swing of Greenstone, but Faye was already racing for her sword. Erika raced to intercept, but Faye did a roll and reached it first, blocking the downward strike that Erika brought down.

"Not bad," Faye admitted, her voice straining. "How's your aura?"

Erika glanced at her wrist display. "Seventy five percent."

"Sixty eight," Faye replied. "But I'm not done yet."

She shoved upward, forcing Erika back, before stabbing forward. Erika parried the strike, but Faye used the momentum to bring her sword around for another blow, and another. Erika blocked the blows, parrying and redirecting as Faye wore on, but once more it seemed like Faye had her on the back foot.

Erika growled, sidestepping one overhead and bringing the pommel of her sword in a nasty strike to Faye's gut, winding her. She followed this up with a quick headbutt, driving Faye further back, before she brought Greenstone down in her own overhead strike - only for Faye to recover and, once again, block the blow.

"Well," Faye said, chuckling, "you're pretty good."

"You too," Erika said, grimacing.

Faye shifted her stance suddenly, and Erika lost her balance, tipping forward. She flailed, her sword whacking Faye across the face, but she fell forward, landing hard.

Faye, breathing heavily, looked at her wrist display, and started laughing.

"Forty percent," she said dryly. "How about you?"

Erika rolled onto her back and looked at her own display, clucking her tongue. "Thirty nine."

"At this point," Augur called, "I'd call that a tie."

Faye looked at him, before looking back to Erika, a small smile on her face. "You happy to take that?"

"Yeah," Erika said, smiling back. "I'm happy with that."

Augur let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He'd seen his sister fight, but… _damn_.

"Remind me never to mess with those two," Richard said, and Augur looked to see that the boy's eyes were wide with surprise.

"Yeah," Augur said, chuckling. "I know exactly what you mean."

* * *

Jaune Arc sighed as he looked over the reports from the first day of school. Richard Bowman had given a glowing opinion of the first year's attendance and attentiveness, which - given that Richard Bowman gave a glowing report about everything - wasn't entirely surprising. Toshiro Mono, meanwhile, reported that he was still formulating his opinion about the new intake… which, for Toshiro, was probably as good as those poor kids were gonna get.

"Well," Jaune said out loud, "coulda been worse."

He sat back, wondering idly if he could get away with having some whiskey in place of his evening cup of tea, when suddenly his scroll began ringing. He frowned, before looking at the number.

 **Pyrrha.**

He answered immediately. "Pyrrha? You okay?"

 _"No useful leads,"_ Pyrrha's voice came down the phone, sounding calm and even. _"The haunts Yang used to frequent are as barren as they come. All I got is that these attacks didn't come through the usual channels. No Fang remnant. No isolationists."_

Jaune frowned at her tone. "Dear, you okay?"

She paused before replying. _"I've not taken my dose in eighteen hours. There was a… scuffle."_

Jaune's breath hitched. "Are you -?"

 _"I'm fine, Jaune,"_ Pyrrha said, and she sounded it. _"I've never felt better. So far, no ill effects."_

Jaune swallowed. "Dear, you need to come to the school, take your dose. I've got some here, and -"

 _"Are we even sure I need it anymore, Jaune?"_ Pyrrha asked.

"The fact that you're even asking that," Jaune said, switching to loudspeaker and sending a text to Glynda, "is proof that you do. I'm sending Glynda and 'Shiro."

Pyrrha made a 'hmm' sound. _"Jaune, if there's really a threat coming, then surely -"_

"Pyrrha," Jaune said, trying to sound serious enough to get through to her, "every time you forget your dose, every _single_ time, we have this conversation. We know how this starts. And we've been told how it ends."

 _"What if it doesn't?"_ Pyrrha asked.

"It _does_ ," Jaune insisted. He stood up, grabbing a small case. "Screw it, _I'm_ coming. Don't go anywhere."

Pyrrha sighed. _"If you were anyone else, I wouldn't listen."_

"That's why you always tell _me_ ," Jaune said.

He didn't need this right now, but he would go. If he wanted his family to stay together, he didn't really have a choice.

As he left his office, he ran into Faye.

"Uh, hey, Dad," she said. "I was wanting to -"

"Darling," Jaune said, trying to sound as not-worried as he could, "I can't talk right now - bit of a work emergency, nothing major. Whatever it is, can it wait until another time?"

"Uh, yeah," Faye said, looking oddly disappointed. "Sure, Dad."

Jaune waved and then dashed off, cursing his luck. _The one time my teenage daughter might actually want to talk to me, I have to dash off. Great._

He couldn't even tell Faye the reason why. Pyrrha's condition was only vaguely known to their children as something that was wrong with her that needed medication. Telling them the truth… that wouldn't have been healthy.

He only hoped he could get to Pyrrha in time.

* * *

 **Omake 7: A Time Above, A Time Before**

 **Patch Island, 94 ABC.**

 _There was a time above, a time before,_

 _A time when there was certainty, a time when there was clarity,_

 _A time when a child could be a child, and a father a father,_

 _But now they are gone from me,_

 _And there is nothing but emptiness._

It was an old poem. A Huntsman's poem, written by a man whose children had died twenty or thirty years before Taiyang Xiao Long had even been born.

A little girl with dark hair ran around Taiyang's garden, laughing and smiling, and he couldn't help but think back to another girl with dark hair. He smiled as Jo leapt from benches and raced around trees, but he knew his smile was cracked, broken. He might never smile again in the same way.

 _Once upon a time, I knew what my family was, and I knew that we would always be together._

The girl reminded him of another girl. But when that girl had been in his house, she had been accompanied by an older girl with blonde hair, strong and proud and ready to take on the world.

 _But now they're gone,_ Taiyang thought. _Gone. Not even dead. Just left._

He wasn't Qrow ( _Gods bless that old asshole's soul_ ). His semblance wasn't bad luck, those he loved weren't doomed by some power beyond his control. But they left him anyway, all of them, in the end. They left, they never came back, and he was left alone wondering why he'd failed.

"Daddy! Daddy!" the little girl called, and he saw her tie a red towel around her neck, before she bounded around the garden. "I'm a superhero!"

Taiyang chuckled. "That you are, kiddo, that you are."

 _She hasn't left me yet,_ he thought, looking at the little girl and feeling his smile broaden. _I've got this time, at least._

He was reminded of the last stanza of that poem.

 _Emptiness brings a promise,_

 _That from nothing a new something will come,_

 _A time of rebirth and of new beginnings,_

 _A time of renewal and of new possibilities,_

 _So while I am left behind,_

 _Hope springs eternal, renewed._


	11. Ten: Teambuilding

**Ten**

 **Teambuilding**

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, 8th September, year 106 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad).**

After the first day - and the _excitement_ that it had held, for want of a better word - the rest of that week had been relatively simplistic. Some of the lessons had been stricter than others - Porter Hall, for example, barked his lessons about the Grimm to the students with a military precision and ferocity that almost made Toshiro Mono look calm. Jo noticed fairly quickly that whenever Porter spoke, Richard would subconsciously sit straighter.

Nora Valkyrie, on the other hand, seemed to be as bubbly and excitable as Bowman had been - in fact, she seemed to be _more_ so, blathering about the beauty of Dust weapons and explosions (and embarrassing Nova, who was apparently her daughter, by calling her up and getting her to demonstrate her weapon, Twintail, in all its configurations). Jo had felt a little superfluous to the lesson, though, since she didn't have a weapon, and Nora's lecturing about the usage of weapon combinations had ultimately not really applied to her, and by the time she got to the second Weaponry lesson of the week, she'd felt a little like the proverbial fifth teammate.

The second History lesson had continued Bowman's tales of the Insurrection. Everything from the fabled Belladonna/Taurus confrontation to the Battle of the Wall was touched upon. Jo was grateful to note that there weren't any more pictures of Ruby Rose being blared up - seeing it as a massive display certainly hadn't helped the shock.

She'd managed to search up more images of Ruby Rose, for what that was worth: there weren't exactly a million. A few of team RWBY from the insurrection: Jo could definitely see her dad in Yang Xiao Long, the blonde hair, the clothing style, and the expressive face, and the more she looked at Ruby Rose's picture, the more she felt like she'd seen it before.

Pictures from later in her life were harder to come by - there was one photo from the aftermath of the war, with an older and more tired-looking Ruby clad in a red cloak that made Jo unconsciously glance at her own cape.

 _Atlesian polymer,_ she remembered her dad calling the material. _Why would Ruby Rose have Atlesian polymer?_

"Researching family?" a voice asked from behind her.

Jo jumped in her seat and turned to look at the speaker. Taylor Hermann, her hands in her trenchcoat pockets, was looking blandly at her.

"Do you always sneak up on people?" Jo asked, scowling slightly.

Taylor shrugged. "It's a talent." She frowned at Jo's screen. "Researching Ruby Rose?"

"She's family, like you said," Jo said slowly.

Taylor frowned. "Can see resemblance. Was red cape intentional mimicry of sister?"

Jo looked at her cape self-consciously. "I… it's something I was…"

"Was joking," Taylor cut her off. "Purpose for research?"

"Uh," Jo said, blinking, "just… Dad never spoke about… about those two. Not often."

Taylor frowned. Reaching past Jo, she brought up one of the images of team RWBY.

"Yang Xiao Long," she commented, looking at the blonde girl. "No resemblance there."

"There shouldn't be," Jo said. "I'm adopted."

Taylor glanced at her. "Ah." She made a soft 'hrm' noise. "Wanting to connect with sisters?"

"Hardly," Jo snorted. Truth be told, she didn't care about Yang at all: she'd seen how hurt her father was by their absence, and so short of there being some insane reason (like whatever had made Ruby abandon… well, everything, everywhere), she didn't think Yang had much reason to abandon Taiyang. "I just… want to know about them."

Taylor made another 'hrm' noise. "Move out of your seat."

Jo frowned, but she complied. A moment passed, and Taylor brought up a site that Jo didn't recognise. After another moment, she pulled up a grainy picture of a woman in a battered, muddy red-brown cloak walking through a crowd. Long red-black hair could just about be seen poking out from beneath her hood.

"Might be her," Taylor said. "Certain sections of the net have been following rumours about Ruby Rose since her disappearance." She snorted. "Waste of time."

"You think so?" Jo asked. "She was supposed to be a hero to some people."

"Heroes who don't do jobs aren't useful," Taylor said. "Better to track _villains_. There is good and there is evil. Only one demands immediate action."

"Hmmm," Jo grunted noncommittally. "Anyway, I'd better leave you to it. I was done anyway."

Taylor stood. "Wasn't here for computers. Only came because your team was looking for you, asked Faye if she'd seen you."

"Huh," Jo said. "And you thought I'd be here?"

"Researching Ruby Rose," Taylor said with a small smirk. "Like I said. Can see resemblance. Conclusions… obvious enough."

Jo frowned. "Hopefully not a conclusion you'd want to share."

"No point," Taylor said. "Not useful to me."

"Thanks," Jo said, raising an eyebrow. "I'd… better go."

Taylor walked off without another word, and Jo blinked at the girl's odd manner. There was definitely something a little bit screwy about that girl.

* * *

When she got back to her dorm-room, Jo couldn't see Richard anywhere. Erika was sleeping, snoring softly, and Nova was reading a book. She looked up as Jo entered and gave her a cheery wave.

"Hey," Jo said to her. "You ok?"

Nova gave her a thumbs up, and Jo sat down on her bed. Nova kept looking at her, and it was only then that Jo realised she wanted something.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Talk?" Nova asked.

Jo blinked. "Oh. Crap, yeah. I said we'd -"

"Talk later," Nova finished. "It's later."

Jo chuckled. "Yeah. Uh… well… I don't know where to start…"

"Team RWBY," Nova supplied.

Jo blinked. "Uh, yeah. How'd you -" She stopped. "No, never mind, I was probably super obvious, yeah?"

Nova nodded, still with a serious expression.

Jo gave an awkward smile. "Uh… it's… really difficult to explain, to be honest."

Nova glanced towards the door, before looking back at Jo with a raised eyebrow. Jo frowned.

"I…" She swallowed. "I don't…"

Nova fixed Jo with a meaningful look. "Faye?"

"Oh," Jo said. "Uh… that's… that's different. I mean, she…"

Nova's expression didn't change, but it seemed to get a fraction harder, and Jo trailed off.

"She told you, didn't she," Jo said after a moment.

Nova shook her head. "Not her job."

Jo felt a little frustrated. "I… look, this is all very difficult for me, y'know?"

Nova's expression softened. She sighed, leaning back in her chair, before clasping her hands together.

"I get," she said after a moment, surprising Jo, "that I don't talk much. That… is a thing I do." She looked eyes with Jo. "But we're partners. You and me. That _means_ something. Or… it's meant to."

Jo blinked. "Oh. I… didn't think of it that way."

Nova gave a slightly sarcastic smile.

Jo sighed, before pulling her scroll out and pulling up a picture of team RWBY. "There… look."

Nova looked at the scroll, frowning at the picture.

"I saw that picture of Ruby Rose in Bowman's class," Jo said quietly, "and… she looks just like me. I've been looking at my own face in a mirror all my life, and I know when someone looks like me."

Nova gave her a sceptical look.

"I know," Jo sighed. "It's… it doesn't make all that much sense, but she disappeared the year I was given to my Dad. Why else would I be there?"

Nova shrugged.

"It could fit," Erika's voice suddenly spoke, and Jo jumped in her seat. The Faunus girl had her arm over her eyes, but her wolf ears were twitching. "But it would seem an odd coincidence."

"You heard us?" Jo asked.

"Wolf Faunus," Erika pointed out. "Good hearing."

Jo sighed. "Maybe it _isn't_ a coincidence? Maybe the reason I was left with Ruby's dad is because I'm -"

"I understand the logic," Erika cut her off, "but what if you're not?"

"What if I'm…" Jo trailed off. "But it fits."

"It seems to," Erika pointed out. "And it might even be true. Don't mistake that for being _the_ answer, though. It's better to ask people, find out for yourself." She paused. "What did your Dad tell you?"

Jo ran a hand through her hair, frowning thoughtfully. "The cape."

"The cape?" Nova asked.

"It's Atlesian polymer, my Dad said," Jo explained, unclipping her cape and passing it to Erika. "I came wrapped in it."

Erika frowned, looking over the material. "I'm not overly familiar with Atlesian gear. Maybe…"

"Somebody say something about Atlesian gear?" came the voice of Richard. Jo looked to the doorway of their dorm, where he was standing lackadaisically, clad in his old Atlesian uniform shirtsleeves. He was frowning at the three girls.

"Can you identify this material?" Erika asked, holding up the cape.

Richard sighed. "Atlesian, is it? Well, I'm not exactly a tailor, but…"

He came over and glanced over the material, frowning at it. He glanced around, before grabbing a glass of water from Nova's table and spilling a little on the cape, where it rolled off of the material and onto the floor, the cape not even damp.

"Huh," Richard said. "This is… this is probably a kind of prototypical repulsium."

"'Repulsium'?" Jo repeated. "What's that?"

"Uh, right now? The kind of thing any rich Atlesian with a bit of a military fetish wears," Richard said. He pulled at his shirt. "It's a special polymer. These days you can make it look like other materials, and it's stronger, harder wearing and generally better than anything other than actual armour. But this feels a little more like it could be old-school repulsium from when they started making it after the War."

Jo frowned. "Why would I be swaddled in repulsium?"

"You were _swaddled_ in this?" Richard asked.

Sighing, Jo filled him in on the previous conversation. When she was finished, Richard frowned, stroking his face.

"I know my dad worked with Winter Schnee - Weiss Schnee's sister," he said thoughtfully. "Weiss Schnee died in 88, but if she knew Ruby she might have helped her?"

"Could fit," Erika said.

Jo frowned. Something was missing from all of this.

"Faye said she'd ask _her_ Dad," she said. "Since he knew Ruby."

Nova nodded. "My parents did too."

"Well," Richard said with a shrug, "if Faye can't get anything out of her dad, I guess that means we'll have other people to nag about it."

Jo smiled. "Thanks guys."

"You're our friend," Erika said. "And our team leader. If this has been bothering you, it's better we seek a definitive answer."

Jo felt her smile widen. "That's… that's really nice."

"Well, I don't know that my dad will help, but I can always ask him if Faye's stuff doesn't pan out," Richard said, yawning. "In the meantime, though, I owe myself a nap."

Erika rolled her eyes. "Weren't you going to do target practice this afternoon?"

"I was, then I decided against it," Richard said with a shrug as he laid himself on his bed. "Changed my mind and all that. You'd be amazed how relaxing not having Atlesian discipline in everything feels."

"I'm sure we would be," Erika said, snorting. She laid herself down on her bed again. "Wake me up if you need me, Jo."

"'Kay," Jo replied. "Thanks for your help."

Erika smiled, then turned away from everyone. Jo and Nova exchanged a glance, and then Nova smiled. Jo couldn't help but feel a little better.

Now she just had to work on _leading_ the team.

* * *

When Faye walked into her dad's office, she was shocked at how tired he looked. He'd been looking increasingly haggard as she got older - her childhood memories of a powerful-looking man, glinting metal arm and confident smile had been slowly replaced by a tired man, scraggly beard less a fashion choice and more something he left alone whenever he couldn't find the time to shave. His eyepatch and worry lines didn't help the image of him as a man aged before his time.

"Faye," he greeted her, smiling, though it didn't quite reach his eye. "I realise I didn't get the chance to talk to you at the start of the week."

"Yeah," Faye said, scratching the back of her head. "Is everything okay?"

Her dad didn't reply for a moment. "Your mom had a medical issue. Nothing important, but I had to go see to her dose."

Faye blinked. "Is she… is she okay?"

"She's better now," her dad assured her. "She's going to have a bit of bedrest time ahead, but she'll be fine."

"Okay," Faye said, frowning. "Why didn't you tell me and Augur?"

"This is me telling _you_ ," he pointed out. "And _you_ can tell Augur. I've made a point of making time in my schedule to talk to you about your issues, not to worry you both about your mother."

Faye sighed. "Whatever, Dad. I just had a question about Ruby Rose."

"Ruby… Ruby Rose…?" her dad repeated, frowning. "What did you want to know?"

 _Better play this smart,_ Faye thought to herself.

"Well," she said, "it's just that… your old team has kids that are in Beacon. I was wondering if team RWBY did. I know Weiss Schnee probably didn't, but -"

"Weiss died before she ever got the chance," her dad said, perhaps a little harsher than he intended. From little snippets of conversation Faye and Augur had overheard over the years, Faye was fairly certain he had been with her when she died, which had probably been hard. "As for the others, Blake has children but they're younger than you and Augur. Yang was always very… independent. And Ruby…"

 _Here we go,_ Faye thought, suppressing the urge to grin.

"…Ruby was never the same after the war," her dad finished, sighing. "When she disappeared, she didn't leave anything behind."

 _…shit,_ Faye thought. That wasn't the answer she'd wanted.

"But she left her dad," Faye pointed out. "And Jo."

"Jo?" her dad repeated, frowning. "Why do you mention her?"

 _Double shit._ "Well, she's Ruby's adopted sister. If Ruby disappeared in 88, she must've known about…"

"Ruby had nothing to do with Jo," her dad cut her off. "They never met, as far as I know. She hadn't spoken to Taiyang in person for at least two years when he adopted Jo. I don't think she's met either of the sisters."

 _That much I know,_ Faye thought. "Huh. Well, fair enough. Thanks anyway -"

"Faye," her dad said, cutting off her attempt at an exit. "Has Jo spoken with you? I know you and her met during initiation."

"Yeah," Faye said. "We're friends. FATE's dorm is right opposite JRNE's."

Her dad nodded. "What's she like? I've never actually met her: I wasn't that good at keeping an eye on Taiyang myself."

Faye shrugged. "She's…" _Cute._ "Nice. Friendly. A little unsure."

The older Arc nodded slowly, a small frown on his face. "Did she say much about her family?"

"Only that she's adopted," Faye said. _And that she thinks Ruby Rose is her mother._ "I think she's a bit curious about… y'know, where she came from. Who her parents were."

Faye's dad nodded slowly, his expression becoming unreadable. "I can understand. It must be hard for her."

Faye narrowed her eyes. "Do you know something? You know her dad, after all."

Her dad gave her a tight smile. "If I know anything, it's not my place to tell her, it's Taiyang's."

"That's not a no," Faye pointed out.

"Faye," he said, his tone becoming irritated, "it's not your business."

Faye bristled slightly. "It is when it's my friend."

Her dad stopped, before frowning. "Has she asked you about this?"

 _Shit shit shit!_

"No," Faye said, hoping she sounded convincing.

Her dad folded his arms, his prosthetic whirring. "Faye, _if_ she's been asking about it, I need to know."

"It's not your business," Faye echoed, folding her own arms. "Why does it matter to you, anyway? You said it's her dad's job to tell her."

"It _is_ ," he said irritably. "But if she's looking into it, I want to save her some worrying."

Faye shrugged. "Well, she's not. So you don't need to worry."

Her dad didn't say anything for a moment, and then he sighed.

"Tell her to talk to me," he said quietly. "And I… I dunno, I'll tell her who she isn't, at least. Save her from barking up the wrong tree."

"Sure, Dad," Faye said, not really believing him. "Say hi to Mom for me, yeah?"

"Yeah," he said. He glanced at some files on his desk. "By the way - Toshiro says you're being cocky in combat training. Watch that."

Faye rolled her eyes. "Sure, Dad."

She walked off, leaving her dad to do… whatever he was doing. She felt more than a little disappointed that she hadn't been able to get answers for Jo, but she was sure there were other avenues to the same destination.

 _There's always more than one way to get the same result, she thought,_ smirking to herself. _Just keep persevering._

* * *

Jaune growled, feeling frustrated with himself.

 _If she's asking questions, she'll get attention,_ he thought. _And judging by Faye's answers…_

This was bad. He pulled his scroll out, and dialled Taiyang's number, hoping he'd pick up. After a moment, a voice answered at the other end.

 _"Yeah?"_

"I think Jo's been digging," Jaune said at once.

Taiyang didn't reply for a moment. _"Into her past."_

"No, into the grounds - of _course_ into her past!" Jaune snapped. He composed himself. "I just had my daughter in here asking questions about whether Ruby had kids."

 _"Shit,"_ Taiyang swore. _"You don't think -"_

"I don't know _what_ I think, Tai," Jaune said irritably. "I know that my darling daughter is being an obstinate little…" He trailed off, trying not to be too angry on the scroll. "I just… I don't have a good feeling about this."

 _"All I can do is tell her when I see her,"_ Taiyang told him. _"Unless you want to."_

"It's not my place," Jaune told him. "It's not even really _yours_. Ruby should have given you more than that damn letter. You have still got that, right?"

 _"In a chest, along with a few old photos I put away,"_ Taiyang told him. _"But if she's starting to ask questions…"_

"Then we need to tell her _something_ ," Jaune finished, sighing. "I'll… make a spot in my schedule, talk to her about it. Glynda's got the damn opening ceremony of the latest memorial statue in four weeks, so there's a lot of security issues around that I need to deal with."

 _"No joy on the bombings?"_ Taiyang asked.

"Pyrrha didn't find anything, and then there was a dose issue," Jaune said quietly. "It's all fine, but it scared the shit out of me."

Taiyang whistled. _"Yeah, I can imagine. You okay?"_

"I will be," Jaune lied. "Anyway, I'd better get going. Take care, Tai."

 _"You too, Jaune."_

And just like that, Jaune was alone with his thoughts again, wondering just how he'd ended up in this situation.

 _I wish you hadn't left,_ he thought to… where Ruby had gone. _This would have been a lot easier if the whole gang was…_

He didn't finish the thought. They hadn't been 'the whole gang' in a very long time, and they never would be again.

* * *

 **Omake 8: We Were Your Team.**

 **87 ABC.**

It was on the first anniversary that Ruby Rose sat in the old bar, waiting for the others, a far stronger beer sitting on her table than she would have strictly chosen under normal circumstances.

It was Weiss who arrived first, limping, some of her pale skin marred by red new skin grafts that, while they looked the part and weren't too disjointed, obviously caused her some discomfort. She sat by Ruby without ordering a drink: no doubt she'd claim the bar was too lowbrow for her, but she hadn't been able to drink alcohol since her injuries. She gave Ruby a nod, but didn't say anything.

Yang arrived next, all shades and trenchcoat, bypassing Ruby's table and returning with a glass of water and a tankard full of something that had a lot of foam on top.

"Would you like some beer with that?" Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow at the beer.

Yang grinned at her. "Everyone loves a lot of head."

Weiss rolled her eyes, but it was good-natured. Ruby forced herself to smile at the banter.

Finally, Blake arrived. Nobody saw her enter or order, but she was suddenly sitting across from Ruby with a glass of blue liquid in front of her.

"Hi," she said quietly.

"Hi," Ruby said, smiling at her. "How are you?"

"Busy," Blake replied. "I almost didn't make it."

"Menagerie keeping you busy?" Yang asked. "I know you haven't called in months."

"Rebuilding a whole society is hard," Blake commented dryly. "Takes a lot of attention, even with Sun's help. Besides, you could always come visit."

Yang nodded. "Maybe I will."

Ruby sighed. "Weiss - you okay?"

"As much as I can be," Weiss said quietly. "Whitley's given me more of the estate than I expected. Between that and my payroll as Winter's liaison to non-militarised Huntsmen…"

"Yay, bureaucracy," Yang muttered. "Dunno how you put up with that crap."

Weiss shrugged. "I grew up with it. One grants it certain leeway."

"No JNPR?" Blake asked suddenly.

Ruby shook her head. "Ren and Nora are building a house somewhere. Jaune… is looking after Pyrrha."

"Oh, is _that_ what we're calling it, now," Yang said with a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows.

Weiss rolled her eyes again. "You don't have to make everything an innuendo."

"I don't _have_ to, no," Yang agreed with a wink. Her expression sobered. "So. One year."

"One year," Blake echoed. "Hard to believe it's been so long already."

Ruby nodded. "We made it. We saved the world."

"Yay for saving the world," Yang said. She didn't look happy. "Funny. Nobody ever mentions the part where the hero feels like shit when they win."

"We didn't save the world so that we could feel happy," Weiss said stiffly. "We saved the world so that the world would be saved. Frankly, I'm surprised we survived."

"A lot of other people didn't," Ruby said quietly. Her hand strayed to the hilt of Corvus ex Fortuna. "But that's why we have to keep going, right?"

"Not anymore, we don't," Yang said with a sigh, leaning back in her chair. "We won. Time to enjoy the 'spoils of victory'."

"I'll drink to that," Weiss said with an ironic twist of her mouth. "To the spoils of victory."

"Here, here," Blake added, raising her glass.

Ruby raised her own drink, and then they drank. They had won the war. Now it was time to win the peace.


	12. Eleven: Practice Makes Perfect

**Eleven**

 **Practice Makes Perfect**

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, 9th September, year 106 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad).**

The next morning, Team JRNE were awoken by a small but insistent whistling sound, to the sight of Jo clad in her full battle gear, a bright smile on her face as she stood in the centre of the room.

"W-what?" Richard said groggily, rubbing his eyes. "Jo? What… what are you doing?"

"Waking you up," she replied, as though this were the most obvious thing in the world. "It's nine-thirty in the morning - peak training time!"

Erika yawned as she sat up, before scratching one of her ears absent-mindedly. "Training time?"

"Yeah!" Jo said. "Faye booked team FATE in for the eight 'til ten slot in training ground B, and everyone says B is the best one, but I booked us the ten-fifteen 'til one o'clock slot, so we can get our own time in."

Nova sat up, but she already smiling. She bounced up to stand next to Jo, looking hardly less thrilled than their leader herself did.

"Ten-fifteen while one also gives us time to get our gear together and get down there," Jo continued, still grinning. "I thought a lie-in 'til nine in the morning would be okay…"

"It's fine," Erika said.

 _Speak for yourself,_ Richard thought to himself, feeling a wave of irritation. Judging by his headache, though, he was fairly certain he had a bit of withdrawal going on. He frowned. _Well, that's a bit earlier than it normally is._

"Alright then, team!" Jo said, still chirpy. "Everybody had better grab their gear from the lockers. We're gonna have a good morning and get really energised!"

She bounded out of the room, Nova following her. Erika looked back at Richard with a shrug, grabbed Greenstone and a few of her essentials, and followed them.

Richard hung back for a minute, sighing to himself. _You know, this is probably the first time in my life where I don't have to get up at a really stupid time in the morning. I was actually looking forward to a lie-in._

He went to the bathroom, grabbing his snuff box from its hiding place as he did so. His reflection looked tired, his eyes heavy, with bags under them. He wasn't in the mood for practice. For a moment, he thought about saying that to Jo and just slacking off training today, but he knew that she would be disappointed. Besides, he remembered what had happened once when he'd told Porter he 'wasn't in the mood' for practice.

 _"Mood has nothing to do with it. You fight when you fight. Moods are for parties and frivolities. Fighting transcends your 'mood'."_

Sighing, he took a sniff of his MindDust, feeling himself re-energise in moments.

 _There we go,_ he thought, and he gave his reflection a fierce smile. _Now I'm in the mood._

* * *

 **Beacon Training Ground B.**

Jo folded her arms as her team assembled on the field by the gate to Training Ground B. Richard had been late to the lockers, but since all he'd needed to do was grab his sonic cannon and slip a jacket over his shirt, he hadn't been too late, so Jo let him off.

They hadn't come in time to see Faye and the rest of Team FATE off, but it didn't matter too much just now. Jo did want to speak to Faye at some point about how she'd gotten on with her dad, but it would wait.

"Okay!" she said, grinning as she looked the team over. Nova had her hammers resting on her shoulders, and Erika had Greenstone drawn. Richard had his cannon holstered still. "We've got a long morning of training ahead, so I think it's important we try to do it right."

"What's the plan, Jo?" Erika asked.

Jo pointed to the training ground. "We complete a mission."

Training Ground B was known for being one of the better 'live fire' grounds the school had, with a series of obstacle courses, urban environment recreations (streets, gantries and more), and most importantly, a complete complement of training drones with stun rounds and batons designed to whittle the Aura of students down and then knock them out. It was, in truth, usually used by older students, but Jo felt confident that her team could beat it. The drones could be programmed for different missions, depending on what the students were after.

"What mission you thinking?" Richard asked lazily. "Destroy? Escort?"

"Destroy," Jo confirmed with a nod. "That's nice and simple, and there's a whole bunch of drones to take on. We can go as high as fifty if you guys want."

"We took on that many Beowolves," Erika said, smirking slightly. "But I'd recommend twenty-five drones. Since we don't have FATE with us."

"Thirty," Nova suggested with a smile.

"Thirty?" Jo repeated, looking at Richard and Erika. Richard only shrugged, while Erika nodded. "Okay. Thirty it is."

She went over to the console by the gate and inputted the parameters of the training mission.

"Alright," she said, "training mission's ready, should start the minute we go in."

"Awesome," Richard said idly, pulling his cannon out.

Jo frowned at his tone: he didn't seem all that enthused. She looked at Erika, who rolled her eyes - the Faunus girl clearly wasn't all that happy with her partner.

"Okay, team," Jo said, making a mental note to deal with it later. "Let's go!"

The gate opened and the team ran in. They all knew that they'd only have a short time before the drones homed in on them. The immediate space was a recreation of a street, with buildings, gantries, balconies and fake cars.

"What's our play?" Erika asked Jo, gripping Greenstone tightly.

Jo frowned, examining the terrain.

"You and I on the ground," she said. "Nova, stay mobile, stay ranged, and keep them from all massing on us."

Nova grinned, locking Twintail into its double machine pistol form. "Gotcha."

"Richard," Jo said, turning to him, "pick a vantage point and shoot."

"Sounds like my kind of job," Richard said, throwing her an ironic salute and jumping to a nearby gantry.

Jo moved to crouch behind a car, clenching her fists. She closed her eyes and concentrated.

"I can hear them," Erika said quietly from behind her. "A group of… four. Coming from near the other entrance." Jo looked at her, to see that she was frowning. "There's something wrong."

"What?" Jo asked.

"These aren't drone footsteps," Erika said, raising her sword. "I think -"

A throwing dagger suddenly embedded itself in the car next to Erika's head, and she leapt backwards, looking upward. Jo leapt backwards too, just as the throwing dagger exploded in a sparking flash that would have stunned her had it been closer.

Suddenly, a girl in black battle-armour landed in the street near the two girls, drawing a Katana and aiming the point at them both.

She had long black hair, tied behind her in a ponytail. She had a belt around her waist, made from yellow-tan leather, and more belts across her chest. From one of these belts she drew another throwing dagger, attaching it to hilt of her sword. For a moment, there was a feeling of tension as Jo and Erika sized up the newcomers.

Then she grinned.

"Sorry," she said quietly. "We must have double booked."

* * *

 **Library.**

Faye Kismet Arc wasn't what one would call a "book learner". Actually, she didn't feel like she'd learned much of anything from books. She'd made Tower and Guardian with her mother's help, designed to emulate her father's weapon, Crocea Mors, in its original configuration. She'd learned to fight through practical tests and training, not through studying styles. Books had helped her learn some things, but she didn't rely on them.

That being said, even she had to admit that there were some useful things about books. They were great at recording history, for example.

"You know what I don't get?" Augur asked her, as the two of them sat in the library. "Why didn't you just admit to Dad that Jo thinks this Ruby person was her mom?"

"I don't know, exactly," Faye replied, frowning. "It's like… he was hiding something. You know? Dad's usually pretty clear about stuff, one way or the other."

Augur snorted. "True enough." He paused. "Bit pissed off that he didn't tell us about Mom."

"You're not the only one," Faye said darkly. "But there's always been something about Mom's condition that bugged me anyway."

"You think they're keeping secrets about her heart condition?" Augur asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I think it's more than just a heart condition," Faye replied, "but I'm not here to solve that problem just yet." She sniffed. "This Ruby Rose girl was important, but she left the whole world. I don't get it."

"She must have had her reasons," Augur commented. "People don't just leave."

"Sometimes they do," Faye said, frowning. She pulled up another image, this one of the entirety of Teams RWBY and JNPR- their mother excepted, of course - after the battle of the Wall. "Trouble is, all I'm getting is the historical shit." She scowled, zooming in on the picture of Weiss Schnee. "Can't help but feel she's mixed up in it."

"Why?" Augur asked.

"She died in 88," Faye said, bringing up another tab - this one a news report about Weiss Schnee's death. "She died in 88. Ruby Rose disappeared in 88. Jo ended up with Taiyang Xiao Long in 88."

Augur nodded. "I can see what you mean -"

"Why on Remnant are you looking up my Aunt?!" a scandalised voice asked from behind them.

Turning, Faye and Augur found themselves faced with an irritable looking girl. Her most distinctive feature was her white hair, cascading behind her. She was clad in a white, fur-lined cloak over a white battle-dress.

"Uh, sorry, who are you?" Augur asked.

"Weiss Schnee," the girl said irritably.

Faye snorted. "You're a bit old for Beacon, lady."

The girl scowled. "Obviously I'm Weiss Schnee the _second_." She pointed to the white-haired girl in the picture of team RWBY. " _She_ was my aunt. Why are you looking her up?"

Faye glanced at Augur, who shrugged.

"We're not really researching her," Faye told the girl. "We're researching the whole Insurrection. Teams RWBY and JNPR were big parts of the events surrounding the -"

"I know the history," Weiss Schnee II said, narrowing her eyes.

"Of course," Augur said placatingly. "Um, if you don't mind -"

"Actually, if she was your aunt," Faye put in, trying her luck, "d'you think someone in your family knows what happened to Ruby Rose?"

"Ruby Rose?" Schnee said, raising an eyebrow. "Why do I care?"

"You don't, but I'm looking up what happened after the war to them," Faye lied, figuring being blatant worked. "Hence the research here." She pointed to the image of the older Weiss in the news report about her death. "If your mom or dad know something…"

"All I know," Schnee said irritably, holding up a hand, "is that my aunt died in some sort of accident, my father inherited the mess of a company my grandfather made, and my other aunt works in the military and doesn't make a point of talking to either of us. I neither know nor particularly care about my namesake's friends."

"But you care about us looking her up?" Augur asked,

Schnee sniffed. "She's still a Schnee. Even if she's a dead one. People search for scandalous material about us all the time, and her death is prime material for gossip mongers."

"Yeah, well, we're not looking up 'scandalous' stuff, don't worry," Faye promised, snorting. "Frankly, the history books are all shit anyway."

Schnee shook her head. "Whatever. Have fun with the dead, newbies. I have more important things to worry about."

She stalked off, leaving Faye scowling after her.

"Didn't seem very friendly, did she?" Augur whispered.

"Yeah," Faye agreed. "Come on. She's right about one thing - we're not gonna learn anything else from all this."

She walked out, and Augur followed her, feeling less than sanguine about the whole thing.

* * *

 **Beacon Training Ground B.**

The dark-haired girl sheathed her katana. From nearby, three others - including, to Jo's surprise and happiness, Yorik Danes - appeared, walking through the fake ruins towards Jo and Erika.

"You guys here to do some training?" Jo asked.

"Something like that," the dark haired girl said. "You?"

"Same," Erika put in. "But we had the space booked for today."

"Like I said, double booked," the dark-haired girl said. "Might be a glitch in the system. I'll have to look that over."

Erika and Jo exchanged a glance.

"We haven't been introduced," the dark haired girl continued. "My name's Delilah Nacht. This is Selwin Chorodia," and here she pointed to a dark haired boy Jo remembered as the more nervy boy from initiation, clad in his shoulder armour and holding a lyre, "Takeshi Hisakawa," a boy with a dark kimono and a long Odachi in his hand nodded, "and Yorik Danes."

"We've met," Yorik said, smiling at Jo. "Good to see you made Team Leader. And to think, you thought you wouldn't make a good huntress."

"Well, I've not been here long," Jo demurred, though she felt a flicker of cheer at that comment.

Delilah snorted. "Together we're team DSTY."

" _You're_ the guys they call team Dusty?" Jo asked.

Delilah's expression hardened minutely. "Team _Destiny_. I'm sure the 'dusty' joke's less irritating for you than it is for me, given that you've probably not heard it seventy times in just the first week, so I'll let you off. _Once_."

Jo swallowed. "So, uh, did you guys run into any drones?"

"About ten," Takeshi put in, sniffing. "No challenge at all."

Delilah looked back at him, before smiling at Jo. "He's exaggerating, but yeah, we dealt with that group."

"Leaves twenty on the field," Erika said quietly.

"Tell you what," Delilah said, "I can access the mission parameters from here and make things a bit more… _interesting_ , since both our teams are on the field."

"More drones?" Erika asked.

"Exactly," Delilah said. She smirked. "I could probably even convince the system to throw some of the more exotic bots in, make things _really_ interesting."

Jo wasn't sure how she felt about that, but she supposed it would be a good way to get the training to be more exciting and intense.

"I'd have to ask my team," she said. "Don't really wanna make decisions for them."

"I'm alright with it," Erika said, shrugging. She looked up at Richard. "Richard?"

He didn't reply, apparently too busy keeping watch.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Erika said, rolling her eyes. "He doesn't seem particularly prone to paying attention."

Delilah nodded. "And the last member of your team?"

Jo shrugged. "Nova's probably already taken out half the drones."

Delilah raised an eyebrow. "Well, in _that_ case…"

She brought up one armoured gauntlet, a display not unlike Edwin's popping up. She inputted some information, and after a moment, a klaxon sounded.

Erika glanced at Jo, who frowned.

"What's that?" Jo asked.

"Something… _fun_ ," Delilah said, drawing her katana.

Yorik rolled his eyes as he drew his rapier. "Sorry about her. She thinks this fighting stuff is more fun than it really is."

Delilah didn't comment, and neither did any of the others. She was already focusing on their surroundings. Next to her, Takeshi had settled into an overhead guard stance, his eyes closed in focus. Selwin, meanwhile, hung back, holding his lyre one-handed and looking tense.

"When they come," Delilah said, "I'll stay mobile. Takeshi - down here, front line it. Yorik, harry the flanks. Selwin, disrupt formations."

"Got it," Selwin said. The others made noises of confirmation as well.

"What's our play?" Erika asked Jo quietly.

"Stick to our plan and try not to interfere with hers?" Jo asked with a shrug.

"Gotcha," Erika said, keeping her guard stance. "I'm not entirely sure we did 'double book'."

"Yeah, well," Jo said, "we'll worry about it later."

There was a sound, something like clanking. Erika's ear twitched.

"Hey guys!" Richard called from above them. "We've got lots of incoming!"

The moment he finished speaking, a ball of blue light shot towards him, forcing him to duck. He stood up and started shooting his cannon off beyond where Jo could see.

"They're here," Erika grimaced. "She tilted her head. I'm guessing at least fifteen drones. Some more are moving off."

"Nova?" Jo guessed.

"If it is, I can't discern her steps," Erika commented.

A moment later, the drones appeared. They looked not unlike the old Atlesian Knight robots, except their projectile weapons were built into their bodies instead of being held on the exterior. Many of them were holding stun batons as well. Jo tensed as they charged, feeling her mind focus into the same state she'd been in during the fight against the Grimm during initiation.

Suddenly, Yorik Danes split into two of himself, his body shimmering slightly with Aura. The two Yorik's ran either side of the approaching group of drones, peeling several of the drones off as they went to intercept the two figures.

Takeshi and Delilah engaged the first drones at the front. Delilah moved with precision and efficiency, knocking one drone over before bisecting a second. Takeshi's Odachi, meanwhile, glowed as he activated a plasma-edge to it, letting him carve through the drones like paper.

Erika engaged one drone, ducking a swing of its stun baton, and responding by kicking it backward. She followed this up with a spinning strike that took its head off.

Jo, meanwhile, concentrated, before leaping upwards, somersaulting in the air before aiming for the centre of the drone group. She landed with a crashing impact that sent several of the drones flying. One drone charged at her, only for her to block its strike with her elbow and retaliate by breaking its arm off and kicking it backwards. She snorted, before dashing forward, crushing the chest of another drone with her elbow.

She felt a blast impact her, but she didn't even flinch, instead turning to face the drone that had fired. It fired again, and she didn't even slow down as she charged it, her punch throwing it backwards into a wall. She rolled her shoulders, looking around to see what to hit next.

* * *

Richard fired again and again, dodging shots as they came his way. More than a few came too close for his comfort, but he was fine. He growled as he fired at the drones, taking one after another down.

 _There's a lot,_ he thought, bringing his weapon up and firing another shot. _But they're pretty piss-poor fighters._

Even as he thought it, another shot impacted near him, and then he grimaced as a drone leapt up, stun baton at the ready as it moved to engage him.

He aimed his sonic cannon, but the drone knocked it out of his hand, sending it spinning away into the street. Growling with irritation, Richard dodged the next swing, before lashing out with his fist. There was a flash of light as the blow connected, and the drone stumbled backward. Richard grinned: his semblance was an enhanced force field, one that made hitting him a lot less rewarding for whoever was trying it. He couldn't keep it up for long, but he could keep it up long enough.

"Come on, you ugly robotic bastard," he said, as the drone charged at him again. He blocked a couple of strikes, the stun baton bounding uselessly off of his force field, and then he kicked out, throwing the drone off the gantry and onto the ground below.

"Anyone else?" he asked rhetorically, but of course there was no answer.

Letting out a breath, he groaned in frustration as he realised that Atreides, his cannon, was still down on the street. He saw Jo and Erika fighting in the crowd of drones, aided by… whoever those other people were (had they invited other people? He hadn't been paying attention).

 _Well,_ he thought, _this is… fun._

* * *

Jo punched another drone, knocking it clean through a wall. She cracked her neck, feeling nothing but her sudden awareness of the enemy and herself, of the power in her limbs and the speed she knew she could move at.

 _More on the left,_ she noted dispassionately as a group of three charged at her. She ducked a blow from the first one, before backhanding it. The second swung its stun baton in a downward arc, but she grabbed it as it came down. The energy sparked against her, but with a grimace she pulled the baton away from the drone, before ramming it through the thing's eyepiece. The last drone tried a punch, and managed to get one in, but all it did was make Jo grin. She lashed out with her fist, knocking the drone's head off. With a jittering, sparking motion, the body of the decapitated robot fell to the floor.

Jo took a breath, watching as Delilah motioned for Yorik to keep flanking the drones, before shouting something inaudible to Takeshi. Jo tried to see where Erika was, but there were still enough drones that it was difficult to place her.

Another drone charged for Jo, and with a single sweep of her legs she knocked it off balance, sending it crashing to the ground, before stomping on the thing's head.

 _I wonder if Nova's having this much fun,_ she thought idly. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen Nova anywhere. _I hope she's okay._

* * *

Erika spun, bringing her sword in a powerful arc that decapitated another drone. Behind her, she heard the telltale clanging and booming that sounded Jo's punching, and she suppressed a smirk.

Her smirk faded, replaced with a frown, when she realised that one sound had stopped. She looked up to where Richard was, and saw to her consternation that he had stopped shooting. In fact, he didn't even seem to have his sonic cannon with him.

She had no time to ponder this, though, because one drone broke past team DSTY's line, knocking Takeshi down and charging straight for Erika. She braced herself, but then a sound not unlike a sonic boom lanced through her hearing, making her wince, and she stepped back as Selwin Chorodia launches a series of shockwaves in the drone's direction, blowing it apart with sheer sonic force.

As Delilah, Jo and Yorik stepped forward to engage the remaining drones, Erika dashed over to the fallen Takeshi. He was already trying to stand, but he had a cut over his eye and it looked to be bruising.

"You didn't activate your Aura?" Erika asked.

Takeshi grunted. "I've already exhausted most of my Aura during this fight. Between my semblance and the fact that my style does not leave much room for _dodging_ , despite many people telling me I _should_ dodge."

Erika nodded. "Are you alright?"

"My pride is more hurt than my head," Takeshi told her, though he winced while he spoke. "No doubt Delilah will have choice words."

Sighing, Erika held one hand over the injury. A moment passed, and then she moved the hand, revealing an unblemished forehead. Takeshi's free hand went to the spot his injury had been at, and he nodded gratefully when he realised it was gone.

"Don't mention it," Erika said with a smile. "Figure I'd save you the lecture."

"You may have done just that," Takeshi said, smiling.

Erika lifted Greenstone. "Let's get back to it."

She charged at a drone, knocking it to the floor and stabbing it through the chest, disabling its primary processor. She turned, only to find herself facing another drone charging at her.

Or rather, it _had_ been charging at her. It was being held, suspended, and as she watched, Takeshi stabbed it through the head with his sword. It dropped like a stone.

"There," he said. "Consider us even."

Erika nodded her thanks as he engaged another drone, and she smirked.

 _There's a guy who doesn't like owing people._

Her smirk faded as she once again noted Richard, who was still watching the fight without really engaging. A few drones occasionally seemed to try to engage him, and he held them off well enough, but he didn't try to support the team.

 _And there,_ she thought, feeling a wave of irritation, _is a guy who isn't that good around people._

* * *

With a spinning kick, Jo sent the last of the drones smashing into a wall. She let out a deep breath, and groaned slightly. That had been a very tiring exercise, to be sure, and she was fairly certain she was aching in places she hadn't been before. Still, it could have been worse.

"How are we, team?" she called out half-heartedly.

Erika threw her a wave from where she was standing, pulling Greenstone out of a drone and frowning at the blade. Richard, meanwhile, hopped down from his gantry, walking over where his sonic cannon had fallen. Jo sighed: if he had been disarmed, that explained why he hadn't given them covering fire after a while, though it didn't explain why he'd stayed out of the fight or not retrieved his weapon beforehand. Judging from Erika's scowl in Richard's direction, she was thinking the same thing.

Jo was just wondering where Nova had gone when the girl showed up, spinning her hammers and grinning. She looked a little frazzled, but not particularly worse for wear.

"Good fight," she said simply, clipping Twintail to her belt.

Jo smiled at her and nodded. She looked over to team DSTY, who had congregated around Delilah. She seemed to be debriefing her team, pointing at each of them in turn before finishing up. None of them looked exactly thrilled, but Jo didn't want to assume anything, or judge Delilah's leadership style from one meeting.

Finished with her team, Delilah walked over to Jo, who straightened slightly.

"Fun fight," DSTY's Leader said. "How'd your team do?"

"I'm happy with them all," Jo said. It was a little bit of an exaggeration, given Richard's apparent lapse, but she didn't feel the need to mention that. "Yours?"

"Acceptably," Delilah said. She pulled up her Aura display, which displayed a reading of 60%. "I've had better fights."

Jo frowned. She hadn't thought to check her own Aura during the fight. She pulled up her display.

 _93%_

"That… is impressive," Delilah said, frowning at the display. "I can't say I've ever known anyone keep that much of their Aura in a fight."

"Maybe I got lucky?" Jo suggested, but she didn't really believe it. She'd taken a few good hits. She shrugged, chalking it up to some part of her semblance. "Good training run, though. Thanks."

"I saw your style," Delilah added before Jo could turn to go. "It's good, but it's very direct. I'd love to have a spar one of these days - maybe teach you a few tricks."

Jo tilted her head, frowning. "I'll see what I can do. I need to get a bit more used to things first, y'know?"

"Of course," Delilah said, inclining her head. "Thanks again."

She walked back to her team, leaving Jo feeling like she'd just been assessed.

 _Would help if I knew what the results of that assessment were_ , she thought. Still… She looked at Richard, who was already walking for the exit. _There's other things to deal with in the meantime._

"There's one thing I don't get," Erika said, shaking her head. "Delilah said she'd called up more exotic boys, but these seemed normal."

"So what happened to the big ones?" Jo asked.

Nova whistled, and the two of them looked at her.

"You handled them?" Jo asked. "But - I mean, were they…?"

"Fun," Nova said, smiling cheerily.

* * *

 **Omake 9: Overlook**

 **82 ABC**

Oscar had his arms folded over his chest as he looked over Mistral, feeling a wave of anxiety at odds with the victory they had just achieved.

"Oz?" a voice asked from behind him.

He half turned his head, to see Qrow standing behind him, holding a flask and drinking from it casually.

"Qrow," he greeted. "What can I do for you?"

Qrow frowned. "You know, we just won a big victory here. Most people would be celebrating."

Oscar gave a bittersweet smile. "I'm not most people. I never will be again."

Qrow sighed. "Yeah. So I understand. Still…"

"Still," Oscar said, "nothing. There is no 'still'. No getting around it. Ozpin is me. I am Ozpin. And it's only now that I'm starting to realise what that means."

"What does that mean, Oz?" Qrow asked, folding his arms.

Oscar looked out over the city. "This fight… it's my fault. All of it. A long time ago I could have - _should_ have - put a stop to this before it started, but I didn't. And in return for that, I allowed devastation to come."

"Salem," Qrow said.

Oscar gave a noncommittal grunt. _If only he knew._

 _'You can't tell him, Oscar.'_

 _I know._

"I've seen so much," Oscar said quietly. "So many battles, so many fights. This… this is horrific. This is insane. But to me… to me it's familiar. Predictable. Every piece on the board acts as anticipated. And this horror… it becomes an old sweater, one I can slip on like I have a thousand times before." He looked back at Qrow. "This is not the end. It's not the beginning. It's a continuation of something that has no end."

Qrow snorted. "You make it sound so lofty."

Oscar smirked. "I guess I do. To me… to me, this scene has played out a thousand times."

"Well, to me, it's played out this once," Qrow replied. "The only thing that pisses me off is that it took so long."

"Oh?" Oscar asked.

"Yeah," Qrow said sadly. "I thought it would be STRQ would see these times through, but instead it's the kids. I wouldn't have wished any of this shit on them."

"Neither would I," Oscar replied. "Either of me. But that's not our place. Our place is to play the board we are dealt."

Qrow sighed. "Well, come on, Oz. The board's still waiting."

He walked off, and Oscar, after one last look over the damaged but unbowed City, followed.

 _The board is always waiting._


	13. Twelve: Teething Problems, Part 1

**Twelve**

 **Teething Problems, Part 1**

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, 9th September, year 106 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad).**

When they got back to the dorm after lunch, Jo decided that it was time to debrief the team on their performance.

"Alright, team," she said, clapping her hands together. She had taken her cape off and tied the top half of her overalls off at the waist, leaving her sweat-stained undershirt exposed. "That was a good training session. I know it wasn't quite what we were all expecting -"

"Can say that again," Richard said, smiling ruefully. "'Double booked', my ass. Did they really try that line?"

Erika gave a noncommittal grunt. She hadn't spoken a word to Richard since they came back from the training session, and Jo was starting to get the feeling that she wasn't the only one who had noticed Richard's less-than-brilliant performance. Even Nova looked a bit less than cheerful.

"Like I said," Jo said, "that wasn't quite what we were all expecting, but I feel like, uh, like there's a lot we learned about ourselves and our respective fighting styles that we can, you know, use to… um, improve."

She felt a lot less confident looking at the less-than-cheery faces of her team. Still: she was supposed to be the leader, which, presumably, meant she had to _lead_. Part of that was telling her team when they hadn't been up to scratch… which would have been easier if only she felt like she'd been up to scratch herself.

"Okay," she began. "I feel, and this is, uh, sorta my fault as well, but I feel like there should be a little bit more team communication. Um, because we didn't communicate at all."

"She makes a valid point," Erika said quietly. "There wasn't really much coordinating done."

"We knew what we were doing," Richard said idly.

"But still, communication is important," Jo said earnestly. She looked at Nova. "I mean, where were you during the fight? Taking on drones somewhere else?"

Nova shrugged, looking bemused. "Yeah."

"Because we didn't know that," Jo told her. "Like I said: communication."

"And with communication comes coordination," Erika put in. "I think when it came down to it we were all just dealing with whatever was in front of us instead of coordinating as a team."

"We had our roles," Richard pointed out. "Nova as a distraction, you two on the ground, me covering you -"

"Which you didn't do!" Erika snapped.

There was a pause, and Jo winced. "Yeah, she… kinda has a point there, Richard. You dropped your gun during the fight, right?"

Richard frowned, folding his arms. "That's right. One of those drones jumped me and knocked it out of my hands."

"Then you should have gone to retrieve it," Erika said irritably. "Or called for one of us."

"You were preoccupied and the ground was thick with those things," Richard said. "Without my weapon, I'm not exactly up on hand-to-hand."

"Well, we can work on that," Jo said, trying to be encouraging, but Richard just gave her a look. "Uh, so… to sum up, communication, coordination."

Nova nodded, giving Jo a thumbs up. "Can do."

Erika nodded as well. "It's good to have an idea about how we can improve: but the important thing is taking these ideas on board, not just paying lip service to them."

She threw another glance at Richard, who raised his hands in a mock-surrender pose.

"I hear ya loud and clear," he said, smirking. "Don't worry."

"Hm," Erika grunted, before standing up. "I'm gonna go for a run in the woods, if that's okay."

"Sure," Jo said, smiling at her. "Have fun."

"Yeah," Erika said quietly, and she slipped out without another word. Jo smiled, and looked back to her team, but Richard had already slipped into the bathroom when no one was looking.

Nova simply shrugged. "Work in progress?"

"I guess so," Jo said quietly. She sighed. "I'm probably gonna go for a walk as well."

Nova nodded, before going to her bed and lying down, and Jo slipped her cape back on, pulled her overalls back on properly, and headed out.

She had to admit: the fight had been a success, in the sense that none of her team had been defeated and they'd won the mission, but that wouldn't always be the case, and she didn't want to be complacent. Part of her, though, was wondering whether she had been too harsh with her team in critiquing their style working together.

She was so busy wondering what she'd done wrong that she almost ran into Faye, stopping just short. The girl and her brother were walking from the direction of the library.

"Oh, hey Jo!" Faye said cheerfully.

"Hey, Faye," Jo said tiredly. "Augur."

"Yo," the boy said, winking.

Faye frowned at Jo's slightly lacklustre tone. "You okay, Jo?"

"Uh, yeah!" Jo said, smiling at her. "Just - y'know, had a training session this morning, had a bit of a team debrief…"

"A team _debrief_?" Faye repeated, folding her arms. "What, where you run down all the ways you coulda been better?"

"Uh, sorta?" Jo said sheepishly. "I thought it might help…"

Faye shrugged. "I mean, I guess if you think it does. We didn't have one after our session this morning, we just headed off."

"Oh," Jo said. "Um… do you think maybe I shouldn't…"

"Hey, hey," Faye said, holding up a hand. "Your team, your rules. You wanna do debriefs, go right ahead. Honestly, it's probably _better_ to do them than not."

Jo chuckled. "I didn't think -"

"What?" Faye asked, mock-hurt, "that I could change my mind about something or admit my own failings?"

"She can't," Augur put in from behind her. "That's what I'm for."

Faye rolled her eyes and gave Augur the finger. He stuck his tongue out and walked past them both.

"Ignore that ass," Faye said sullenly. "It's a good idea, anyway. Debriefing your team means you can figure out how stuff's going."

"How was your session?" Jo asked.

Faye shrugged. "We won. I guess that's pretty much all I can hope for from the team."

Jo nodded, smiling encouragingly. "I'm sure it's all going great."

"It's not been too bad so far," Faye agreed, smiling again. "But hey, you we're going somewhere, don't let me stop you."

Jo smiled. "Nah, I was just going for a walk. No biggie." She paused. "You could - you know, come with me, maybe?"

"Uh," Faye said, scratching the back of her head. "I should get back to the dorm."

 _Of course,_ Jo thought. _Stupid question. Obviously, she's busy._

"But, hey, another time?" Faye added before Jo could say anything.

"Sure!" Jo said brightly, smiling at her. "See you later!"

She dashed off before she could feel any more stupid than she already did.

* * *

Faye watched her go, feeling a smile tugging almost involuntarily at the edge of her lips.

"You know you're not actually doing anything that needs your attention?" Augur's voice said. She turned to see him standing in the doorway, giving her a meaningful look.

Faye shrugged, putting a practiced neutral expression on her face. "Yeah, but I've been out all day and -"

"And there's a girl right there who's clearly smitten, and judging by your expression, you're not far off yourself," Augur said with an arched eyebrow.

Faye scowled at him. "Puh-leeese. I've known her a week."

Augur snorted. "That hot Huntress in the tank top was in our village for two days and you were still writing haikus three months later."

Faye rolled her eyes. "I was thirteen."

"Then there was that sentry girl that had a three month tour of duty that you took a selfie with that you'd look at _every single day_."

"'Gur…"

"And _then_ -"

"Augur!" Faye hissed. "I get it! Just… stop, alright? Please?"

Augur stopped at once, his expression softening. "Sorry, sis. I didn't realise I was actually getting to you."

Faye rolled her eyes. "You have literally just reeled off all the reasons why I _don't_ just want to go for the damn walk with her. At least, not yet."

Augur frowned. "I don't follow."

"Oh Gods give me strength," Faye muttered. "You don't breathe a word of this, got it?"

Augur nodded, crossing his heart.

"I mean it, though!" Faye insisted, gesturing with her finger at him so hard she nearly poked him in the nostril. "If you tell _anyone_ about this, I swear to the Thirteen Gods of All Creation I will tear you the fuck apart."

Augur nodded. "Gotcha. Torn the fuck apart. So?"

Faye sighed, facepalming, before looking over her shoulder to make sure no one could hear her.

"I'm crushing," she whispered. "Hard."

Augur snorted. "Could tell."

"But that's just it," Faye said. "I don't want to - you know, _just_ be crushing. If it's just that again, I'd rather not do the whole 'getting obsessed and writing haikus' thing." She sighed. "I… look, Jo's a sweet kid, but she seems pretty naive. And I'm pretty sure she's got a lot of issues right now. Me crushing on her is _not_ what she needs."

Augur nodded, making a contemplative face. "Gotta say, that is a surprisingly mature choice for you."

Faye gave him the finger again, shattering the illusion. "I just don't want to hurt the poor kid. Or me, for that matter. If I get crushing hard and it doesn't work out -"

"Say no more," Augur said, holding up a hand. "Totes get it. I will not mess this up for you, promise." He gave a small smile. "Just, y'know, promise me one thing."

"What?" Faye asked suspiciously.

"Write better poetry this time?" Augur asked, grinning cheekily.

"Ugh," Faye groaned, shoving past him. "I'm going in the bath, asshole."

"D'you want a notepad and paper to start jotting some haikus?" Augur asked. "That can help."

"Go to the hells."

"I could look up your old work for you? Pretty sure I emailed myself the pics I took of it. Or I could email her them?"

" _Fuck off_."

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, 10th September.**

Erika let out a deep breath as she sat up from her bed. The dorm room was quiet - Nova and Jo weren't there, and Richard was apparently still asleep. Sundays were always her preferred day to go relax, let out some steam, do some training exercises in the woods…

 _But that was before I became part of a team_ , she thought, cracking her neck. What was it her grandfather had said when he'd enrolled her? _'The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives - and we have been alone too long.'_

Her grandfather had been full of little tidbits like that. The trouble was, as he well knew and hoped to one day change, that the Schreitens had no pack. Barring some unforeseen miracle, they never would again. She was lucky their name had become so obscure…

"Mornin', partner," Richard's voice said idly. "I see our teammates have already headed off for an early breakfast."

Erika didn't dignify that with a response. She grabbed Greenstone and looked it over, looking it over. She'd not had much of an opportunity to clean it over the last few days, and it tended to get tetchy. As much as an inanimate object could get tetchy, anyway, which in Erika's experience was more than one would have expected.

"How are you on this fine Sunday?" he asked her.

She didn't reply, instead strapping her sword belt on and standing up.

"Silent treatment, is it?" Richard asked, not sounding all that fussed. "Fair enough. Not sure what I did to deserve it, but -"

"Aren't you?" Erika cut him off. "You can't think of a single thing?"

Richard blinked in surprise at her tone. "Uh… no?"

Erika shook her head in disgust. "We're a team."

Richard tilted his head. "And…?"

"And, yesterday, _you_ didn't support the team," Erika pointed out, turning away from him.

"What, you mean when I didn't get Atreides back from dropping it?" Richard asked. "Well, yeah, I dropped the ball, but -"

"You didn't 'drop the ball'," Erika cut him off again. "You haven't bothered catching the ball. You haven't bothered even stepping onto the ballpark. Your head is not in this, and _that_ is not acceptable."

Richard folded his arms. "Look, I get that you're really into the whole being focused and intense thing, and I'm gonna say I respect that, but I'm not all that into it for _me_."

Erika scowled. "This is a team. It isn't just about what's good for you."

"And it isn't just about what's good for you, either," Richard retorted.

"Except that Jo already pulled you up yesterday," Erika said, standing up as she felt her anger building.

"Yes, _she_ did, so why are _you_ doing it now?!" Richard countered, standing up to meet her. " _You're_ not in charge here!"

"But I _am_ your partner!" Erika growled. "Which means that when _you're_ not pulling your weight, it affects _me_ first, before it hits the team! You and I have to work together on assignments, get graded on partner missions together, and I didn't come here to learn to drag other people along when they won't walk for themselves!"

Richard's nostrils flared angrily, and then he stepped back, taking a breath.

"I'm going to the bathroom," he said, picking up something from his desk. "You go… do whatever you do. We can talk about this when I can be assed."

Erika snorted. "When will you be assed, exactly?"

"When I am!" Richard snapped. He took another breath. "Seriously. Now would be a good time for you to piss off."

Erika growled, before storming out of the room.

 _'We have been alone too long', huh?_ she thought bitterly. _Now I can see why. Some people…_

She didn't finish the thought. She tried to steady her nerves, but almost unconsciously, she felt her hand gravitate to the hilt of Greenstone.

 _I need to go kill some Grimm_ , she decided. _That will calm me down._

* * *

Richard looked at himself in the mirror, taking in his tired, haggard expression and his slouched posture. He had a headache again - the sign of withdrawal - but he had only take some of the MindDust a few short hours ago, right before he went to bed.

 _Been overdoing it,_ he decided. _Should really cut down. I don't need that much to focus myself._

But his hands, as if of their own volition, went to the snuff box, and he took a sniff. The MindDust sharpened his senses, but he still felt duller than he should have done. He took a second sniff, and the effect increased. He could hear every creak and rustle of the room around him, feel his bones rubbing against one another as they moved, hear his own heart beating. He felt invincible.

"Drag other people," he snorted, looking at himself in the mirror. He was tall, his eyes clear, his mouth quirked in a smile. "I don't get dragged. I'm bloody _invincible_."

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, 14th September.**

The entire week went by in a blur for Richard. Now that he knew he had to take more of the MindDust to focus himself, he was doing so. He knew it was more than he should have been taking, so to compensate he cut out as many doses as he felt he could - which amounted to cutting out his evening one before sleeping and waking up grumpier than normal.

Erika hadn't so much as breathed a word to him since their argument, and Jo had clearly noticed since she had thrown worried looks at both of them constantly throughout the week. Richard was only fortunate that their team hadn't, yet, been asked to do anything massively strenuous. Unfortunately, from comments made in Mono's Combat class and Bowman's History lessons, things were about to get more difficult.

The Grimm studies lessons, at least, passed much as they had done last week. Or at least they did, up until the end of the Thursday one. Porter had been giving Richard the proverbial evil eye for the entire lesson, making him wonder if he'd managed to do something that offended his father's old combat retainer.

At the end of the lesson, Porter held Richard back. The rest of the team hesitated, but Richard waved them off as he turned to face Porter.

"Alright," the man said sternly. "Attention!"

Richard snapped to attention, raising his chin and straightening his posture. Porter came up to him and looked him dead in the eye, before snorting in disgust.

"Alright," he said, sounding more disappointed than angry. "How long have you been using it?"

Richard paused, uncertain how to respond to that question.

"I asked you a question, young Atreus," Porter said, starting to sound angrier. "You will answer it."

"Eight months," Richard replied at once.

"How many doses?" Porter asked.

Richard sniffed. "Currently?"

"Yes."

"Two sniffs in the morning," Richard said slowly. "Another two at lunch. I used to take one in the evening. But since I switched to two sniffs, I cut out the evening one."

"Which means you've increased your doses from three spaced out to four closer together," Porter sighed. He turned away. "When your father agreed to you using the stimulant, I did not anticipate you would use it regularly, nor did I anticipate you choosing to use it to the point where you would become an addict."

"I'm not -" Richard began.

"Don't argue with me, boy!" Porter suddenly snapped. "This substance was experimental, created for the elite troopers of the Aesir program. That your father even has access to the means of creating and supplying it is a privilege you have _squandered_ by becoming an addict!"

Richard sniffed. "I'm not an addict. I'm in control."

"Do you have the headaches when you don't take it, the mood swings?" Porter asked.

Richard's eyes widened. "How do you…"

"Answer," Porter snapped.

Richard nodded slowly. "But how can you know?"

Porter sighed. "I was one of the original Aesir test program's candidates. I know more about the use of MindDust than anyone alive, save the scientists who make it in your father's labs. As a means of sharpening your senses, it can be glorious, but it can also be a terrifying thing to return to normality afterwards." He sighed, turning away from Richard. "I still use it to sharpen myself in battle, but now I have regained enough control to step away from it. And I have mastered the headaches and emotional effects."

Richard frowned. "How can you lecture me, when you've felt the benefits?"

"Because I know the benefits don't outweigh the cost," Porter snapped, turning back to look at Richard. "Why do you think the Aesir program has never produced a successful candidate? Addiction is the least terrible thing to happen to a user of the MindDust. It can warp you, mentally and physically."

Richard folded his arms. "I can handle it."

"Clearly not," Porter said. He went to his desk, before retrieving a small tin. "These tablets replicate the endorphin effect without the other effects. They will help wean you off the MindDust until it is safe for you to use it as it was intended you would." He held the tin out to Richard. "If you take these as intended, two per day at the times you would take your usual 'hit', and come to me for replacements when you run low, I will omit this from your official Beacon records."

Richard sniffed. "Fine." He took the tin. "But I will use the Dust if I need to."

Porter scowled. "I happen to know the suppliers, boy. I will make certain you do not get a gram more until I know you will use it responsibly."

Richard sighed. "Alright. Alright, Porter. You're right."

"I know I am," Porter said, smirking slightly. "Now go, before I change my mind. You have a free training period, I suggest you enjoy it." He paused. "You're dismissed."

Richard turned and left the lecture hall, feeling a wave of different emotions. Most of them were variations on shame, guilt, and not a little humiliation. Porter had known what was going on. Who else would?

As he left the room and started down the empty corridor, he heard a soft cough from behind him. Turning, he saw Erika leaning next to the doorway of the lecture hall, one of her wolf ears twitching.

"So," she said quietly. "Care to tell me what 'MindDust' is?"

* * *

 **Vale City, 15th September.**

Strong folded his arms as he waited beneath a lamppost. His contact had told him to wait here, where further instructions about the next job would be forthcoming. That would have been all well and good, but he had been waiting for at least twenty minutes, which was about eighteen minutes longer than he was really happy to wait.

After a few moments, a car finally pulled up, and a man in a nondescript outfit, save for his balaclava, arrived.

"Hercule Strong?" he asked. He held out an envelope. "This is yours."

Strong chuckled. He grabbed the envelope and opened it, before reading the instructions. They were fairly simple this time.

 _Glynda Goodwitch. Your discretion, but it must cause maximum fear and panic. Half forwarded to your accounts as of this message's receipt. Other half post success. The car is yours. Messenger expendable._

"Everything in order, sir?" the messenger asked.

Strong looked up at him, before grabbing him in a headlock and snapping his neck in two with a fluid move. The body fell to the floor with a thump, and Strong stepped over it deftly.

"Perfectly," he said.

* * *

 **Omake 10: Homecoming.**

 **82 ABC.**

Pyrrha Nikos opened her eyes, and tried to remember what was going on.

She was in a room, with a ceiling above her head. The ceiling was wood, with beams criss-crossing it. Homely. She frowned slightly, trying to remember how she had gotten here. The last thing she remembered was…

… what _was_ the last thing she remembered?

"You're awake!" a voice said softly. Pyrrha tried to move her head, but she felt dizzy even trying. "No, wait, hang on."

Pyrrha blinked, fighting down nausea as the bed she was on began moving steadily upwards into a sitting up position. She focused on the speaker, and to her surprise, saw Ruby Rose staring at her, grinning.

"You're awake!" the leader of team RWBY said. Her cloak was a little more torn up than Pyrrha remembered, and her hair was a bit longer. "It's great to see you - we thought you'd never wake up and then there'd be a whole load of problems and then we were worried that maybe there was something wrong and -"

"Ruby," came a familiar, very welcome voice. "Let her breathe."

Jaune Arc stepped into the room, smiling softly at Pyrrha. He had no armour on, instead wearing a simple tank top over his muscular frame. The most striking thing about his appearance, though, was the dull gunmetal arm he had in place of his right arm.

"Jaune…" Pyrrha breathed. "You… what happened to you?"

"What happened to me is nothing compared to what happened to you," Jaune told her. He sighed, turning to Ruby. "Can you give us a minute?"

"Sure," Ruby said cheerfully. "I need to go talk to Oscar anyway."

She dashed off, leaving Jaune and Pyrrha alone. He looked at her, his expression morose.

"Jaune?" she asked, feeling a wave of questions building up. "I… what happened? The last thing I remember is…"

"Pyrrha," he said, cutting her off. "There's something you need to know."


	14. Thirteen: Teething Problems, Part 2

**Thirteen**

 **Teething Problems, Part 2**

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, 16th September, year 106 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad).**

When Richard Atreus woke up, Erika was already dressed, clad in a burgundy shirt and what must have been her favourite green leather coat, judging by how often she wore it. She was clearly waiting for him, arms crossed and an expectant expression on her face as she stared at him.

The others had apparently already left. A quick glance at the clock showed that it was about 10:30 in the morning, so they'd have already had breakfast.

 _I was always more of a brunch person anyway,_ Richard thought. He sighed when he saw his partner's resolute expression: for a day and a half, he had been waiting for this conversation, hoping she would let it go. It seemed that she hadn't.

"So," he began. "Can I at least get dressed before we have our little 'talk'?"

Rolling her eyes, Erika motioned to the bathroom door. Smirking, Richard gave a mock-bow. He grabbed a shirt and his trousers from near his bedside table and walked into the bathroom, leaving her still waiting.

He took his pyjamas off first, stretching his legs as he did so and trying to ignore the odd cramps he was feeling.

 _This is ridiculous,_ he thought as he pulled his shirt on and buttoned it up, flattening some creases from it as he went. _I don't even know why I feel guilty. The MindDust is sanctioned. It's a battle stimulant. A perfectly legitimate…_

The thoughts died before he could finish them, and he ran a hand through his hair. He still looked tired and worn out, a far cry from what he considered his best. His trousers needed a good ironing, and his shirt was a creased mess. With a scowl he unbuttoned the cuffs and pushed the folded cuffs outward until they extended past the bottom of his thumb, giving him an almost piratical look.

 _Might as well make the scruffiness look deliberate,_ he thought. He snorted as he mussed his hair up in the mirror. _It would be great if I didn't look like I belonged in a Punk band, but needs must._

Taking in his scruffy appearance with a sigh, his hand went to the small case of tablets Porter had given him.

Despite what his father's old friend had said, the small tablets didn't have nearly the endorphin power the MindDust had, and they did nothing for his focus. The effect was rather like drinking watered down wine - it did nothing for him, only just staving off the headaches that the withdrawal was causing.

 _The box is in my best jacket,_ he thought, his mind drifting to the MindDust supply he still had left. It wasn't all that much - no more than four or five sniffs worth - but enough to keep this feeling, this _powerlessness,_ at bay. It was so tempting…

"Are you gonna be in there forever?" Erika called from outside.

"Give me a bloody minute!" Richard snapped. He inhaled, trying to calm himself. "Just… just one minute."

 _I am in control. My will is strong,_ he thought, closing his eyes and concentrating. _Will is the foundation of man. Through will is there action. Through action, effect. Through effect, result. Thus is all life built on the foundation of your will, and thus can the smallest move mountains. My will… is…_

He turned and left the bathroom. Erika was still waiting for him when he stepped out.

"So," he said, moving past her and tossing on one of his longer jackets, a black knee-length coat in an old Albion style that had come back into fashion about half a year ago, all buttons and collar. "Where do you wanna have this conversation?"

"We can't just have it here?" Erika asked.

Richard snorted. "Yes. Because I want to spill deep dark secrets of not just me and my family, but the entire Atlesian military to someone in a _dorm room_."

Erika paused, her expression softening slightly. "That serious, huh."

"That serious," Richard nodded. "You're the one who wanted to know."

Erika scowled. "I wanted to know what MindDust was and if it had anything to do with why you've not been giving one hundred percent to the team."

Richard sighed, running a hand over his tired eyes. "It was supposed to make me give two hundred percent. That's why it _exists_. That's why I was _given_ it."

"Clearly didn't do what you wanted," Erika pointed out, folding her arms.

"Clearly not," Richard snorted. "Come on. Let's go to the forest - you like the forest, right?"

Erika rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure, whatever."

* * *

Jo was walking down the steps towards the courtyard after breakfast. She and Nova had both gone to breakfast early - Erika had briefly mentioned wanting to talk to Richard alone, and Jo could guess easily enough that it had something to do with their teammate's… questionable behaviour over the last few days.

 _Well,_ Jo thought, _if Erika can maybe figure out what's bothering him, they'll both be better for it._

Nova had dashed off, mentioning something about her mother, and so Jo found herself walking down the steps alone. It was alright, though: she'd had a week of distractions upon distractions, lessons and homework. That had kept her busy - distracted her from worrying about other things.

 _I wonder if Faye ever asked her dad,_ she thought idly. _I mean, she and I -_

"Excuse me," a voice cut her thoughts off. "Jo Xiao Long?"

Jo turned, feeling a wave of uncertainty shoot through her as she faced Professor Jaune Arc.

"Uh…" she said, feeling absurd. "Um… hello. Uh, sir."

Arc was more imposing up close. Between the soft but clearly audible whirring of his prosthetics and his eyepatch and stubbly beard, he looked like a hardened fighter, and he had chosen to throw a black cloak over himself today that just made the intimidation factor worse.

"You can relax, Jo," he said. "I didn't want to talk about anything school related. I was actually wondering if you could come to my office at some point next week to talk about a personal matter."

Jo frowned. "A personal matter?"

"Your family," Arc said, folding his arms. "I know you've been… thinking about it. Or rather, I suspect you have. Faye asked about it."

 _So she did ask him,_ Jo thought, an involuntary smile on her face.

"I, uh, well…" she stammered. "It… has sorta…"

"I understand," Arc said, holding his prosthetic up to silence her, before looking at it and lowering it with an almost sheepish expression. "It's not the easiest subject."

"Because of Ruby Rose," Jo said before she could stop herself.

Arc's expression hardened slightly. "She's involved, yes. And so am I, indirectly at least."

Jo swallowed. "Who… is she…"

"Whatever questions you have, I can't answer now," Jaune said. "But when we talk, I'll tell you what I can."

Jo scowled, forgetting who she was talking to. "Why can'tyou tell me everything? I mean, unless you don't know, but you're acting like you do."

Arc frowned slightly. "Don't forget that you're talking to a teacher, Miss Xiao Long. I'm offering to tell you some of what I know until your father has a chance to explain everything to you, like he promised. That's a courtesy, and it's also to stop you bugging the hell out of everyone who knows anything about Ruby Rose."

Jo took a deep breath, trying not to explode. "Is she my mother?"

Arc clicked his tongue. "No."

"Then who is?" Jo asked, feeling the questions burst forth from somewhere she didn't even know she had. "Why am I here, why didn't my parents want to keep me, why -"

Arc held up both hands, and Jo stopped dead. He looked tired.

"There are very complex answers to your questions," he said quietly. "But Tai will answer what he can, soon. I can't talk more about this now, I have a meeting with the headmistress, but when I get time I will ask to speak with you. I'll try to explain more at that time, to tide you over."

He turned and started walking off, leaving Jo standing there, processing everything he'd said.

"Are they even alive?!" Jo called out after him. He didn't answer, and after a moment he had disappeared back into the school building. Jo growled in frustration, and she felt her fist clench tightly.

 _No, no, it's fine._ She struggled to calm herself. _He said he'd explain, so he'll explain. Gotta stay calm about it all._

Of course, it was easier to say that than to do it. She felt a wave of frustration unlike any she'd ever felt. How _dare_ he? It wasn't his family, his history, his life. It was _hers_ , and he was keeping her from it like… like her opinions didn't matter, like what she wanted didn't matter, like…

The fact was, for the first time in her life, _real_ answers weren't just a theoretical idea, but _possible_. There was an answer for who she was, where she had come from. Maybe even why the people who'd brought her into this world hadn't wanted to keep her.

She turned around, and almost ran headlong into Dr Bowman, who let out a soft exclamation.

"Well!" he said, brushing the front of his coat down. "Miss… it's Jo Xiao Long, isn't it? Team JRNE?"

"That's right, sir," Jo said, feeling suddenly embarrassed for nearly knocking him over. "I'm sorry, I was… distracted."

"Thinking deep thoughts, eh?" Bowman said with a knowing nod. "I know that feel. Once found myself caught in such a thinking conundrum that an entire class sat watching me ponder for twenty minutes before I realised they were there."

Jo blinked. "Really?"

"Well, really about eighteen and a half minutes," Bowman said, scratching the back of his head. "But the point stands. Some thoughts just take up that much space, if you know what I mean."

Jo nodded. "Yeah, I think I do. Uh, if you'll excuse me, sir…"

She moved to walk past him, but then stopped. She turned to look at him as he walked off.

"Uh, Dr Bowman?" she called after him. He turned to look at her. "I was wondering if you… uh…"

"If I what?" Bowman asked, frowning in confusion and sticking his hands in his coat pockets.

"Well," Jo said, feeling stupid, "if you knew anything more about Ruby Rose."

Bowman blinked. "Ruby Rose? You mean the leader of Team RWBY? I know a fair bit about her accomplishments over the course of the Insurrection, and I have a few recordings of her from various points. Why do you ask?"

"Could I…" Jo said, hesitatingly. "Could I have a look at some of those, please?"

Bowman smiled. "I'll forward them on to you. It's always good to see a student taking such a keen interest in history."

He walked off, leaving Jo feeling at once a little better and a little more confused. Her mind raced as she compared what Arc had told her to what she knew.

" _Is she my mother?"_

" _No."_

 _But she and I look so alike,_ Jo thought. She sighed. _Don't we? Or did I imagine it? Or…_

No, that couldn't have been it. Even Taylor had commented on the fact that she looked like Ruby. _"Can see family resemblance."_ There had to be more to it than Professor Arc had told her, or more to Ruby Rose's place in her family tree than she knew.

* * *

Dr Bowman walked up the stairs, hands still firmly entrenched in his pockets.

 _I wonder why she has such an interest in Ruby Rose,_ he thought idly. _I know that she's a hero, but generally people aren't so interested in individuals as in the actions of the entirety of teams RWBY and JNPR during the conflict, or in particular events like the Battle of the Wall. Curious._

So thinking, he suddenly ran into Jaune Arc, who was waiting for him at the door to his office.

"Dr Bowman," he said sternly.

"Hello, Jaune," Bowman said, smiling. "Can I help you out?"

"In a way," Arc said. "I happened to see you talking to Jo Xiao Long. What did she want?"

Bowman frowned slightly. "Well, apart from apologising for nearly running into me, she mainly was interested in some supplementary materials about Team RWBY, specifically their leader." He paused. "Say, would you happen to be able to provide some additional information? You were JNPR's leader during the Insurrection, after all."

Arc sighed. "She asked about Ruby?"

"That is what I just said," Bowman reiterated, still frowning. "Is something wrong with that?"

"It's… complicated," Arc said quietly, looking worried and tired. "I've no objection to her having the information per se, but I don't want her drawing the wrong conclusions from it all."

"'The wrong conclusions', Jaune?" Bowman asked. "And what exactly do you mean?"

Arc ran his real hand through his hair, before motioning to Bowman's door.

"Inside," he said quietly. "I'll explain everything I know."

* * *

The part of the forest that Richard and Erika ended up in was a relatively quiet little glade, one of Erika's favourites. There were a few large rocks scattered about, the trees were all strong and sturdy, and there was a small freshwater pool that ran in from a stream that led all the way into the mountains if you followed it enough. Erika hadn't had the chance to follow the pool the entire way, but she had wanted to.

"This is nice," Richard commented, sitting on one of the rocks and laying himself down as though lazing. "Prime 'awkward conversation' real estate."

Erika sighed, sitting on another rock. She drew Greenstone and started to whet it. Her whetstone wasn't exactly at its peak - she'd probably have to replace it soon - but she was content with using it as a relaxation mechanism for herself: something for her hands to do while Richard explained.

"So," he said after a moment. "The MindDust."

Erika looked at him. He was still reclining, looking up at the sky, his expression pensive. She kept whetting Greenstone.

"Suppose I should start by pointing out," he said, "that it isn't actually Dust. It's just called that."

Erika nodded. "Right."

"Right," he echoed, looking a little sheepish. "Uh… so, it's an Atlesian… I guess, 'battle stimulant' is the closest way to describe it. Designed for use with a program called Aesir. One of a number of crazy programs Atlas started during and after the War - sorry, the _Insurrection_."

Erika nodded again. "It's Atlesian military, so your dad has access to it."

"Kinda," Richard said. "My Dad has access to a private reserve - scientists and engineers who know the formulas and keep making it for him and his private forces. Gives him an edge over other noble families." At Erika's horrified expression, Richard just shrugged. "Atlesian politics. They're a killer. The Schnee Dust Company has its own private army, all robots and ex-Hunters turned mercenaries. Then there's the Blacks, the Garnets, the Oxenreiders…"

"I get the picture," Erika said softly. _Politics._ She hated it. It reminded her too much of the stories she'd heard about her family's roles in the Faunus Wars, the politicking and death-dealing that had ended in the Schreitens becoming _persona non grata_.

"Anyway, Dad's been letting me use it as a focusing tool for a while," Richard carried on. "A means of focusing my mind more during combat. And as a focusing tool, it's… incredible. Simply incredible."

Erika frowned. "A narcotic performance aid?"

Richard snorted. "You make it sound like I'm a cheating athlete. This is a school for _warriors_. We're the people who are going to fight the next war - or train the people who do."

"That's a cheerful thought," Erika said, frowning. "So you're using a… a drug stimulant?"

"I was," Richard said, snorting. "Porter's… ugh."

Erika didn't say anything as Richard sat up, before hopping off his stone and leaning against it. His expression was troubled, and now that she was paying more attention he looked to have bags under his eyes that weren't just tiredness.

"He thinks I'm overdoing it," he said quietly. "That I'm using too much."

"Are you?" Erika asked.

Richard sighed. "I've… been getting withdrawal symptoms. Which he seems to think is a worry."

"Withdrawal symptoms only happen to addicts," Erika said flatly. "You're an addict."

Richard snorted. "I'm aware of that. That doesn't mean I'm overdoing it. I use it to focus my mind and -"

"And now you _sound_ like an addict," Erika added, folding her arms. "You're justifying the use of this narcotic to make yourself seem reasonable."

Richard scowled at her. "Why do I need to justify myself to you anyway?"

"Like I told you before," Erika said, "we're partners, and if you're not giving it a hundred percent -"

"I _was_ giving one hundred percent, when I was on the MindDust," Richard snapped, turning on her. "It makes me more focused, calmer. It takes away my fear. I can do _anything_."

Erika paused in her whetting. "I see."

Richard let out a breath. "What does _that_ mean?"

"It means what it implies," Erika said slowly. "I understand what you're telling me. I don't like it, but I understand it." She took a deep breath. "And I think this stuff you've been using is foolish."

Richard's nostrils flared in irritation. "Foolish."

"It's a crutch at best," Erika said, "and I think if it's causing you to have withdrawal headaches, it's clearly gone from being a focus tool to… well, a dangerous addiction that harms your focus. Especially if how you were in the training session is how you're generally going to be…"

She trailed off at Richard's expression, which had only grown more furious as she had spoken.

"You don't know anything," he hissed through gritted teeth. "Anything at all, about what it does to me, for me, about what I can _do_ with it."

Without another word, he stormed away from her, heading back the way they had come. Erika sighed, debating whether it was worth going after him.

 _Unwise,_ she eventually decided. _Let him cool off. I can talk to him later._

* * *

Inside Bowman's office, he and Professor Arc were sat down, the Professor telling a grim story. Bowman had felt a sense of foreboding when the deputy headmaster had jumped him, and now he knew why - what he was hearing was…

 _What have I stumbled into,_ he thought to himself.

When Jaune was finished explaining, Bowman found himself feeling shaken.

"This contradicts a fair bit of the established history surrounding Ruby Rose's disappearance, and Weiss Schnee's death," he said quietly.

"I know," Arc said quietly. "It's also incredibly sensitive information. It's only thanks to Winter Schnee and Jared Atreus that we kept this whole thing from becoming an inter-Kingdom incident."

"Ah," Bowman said, stroking his chin. "And that's why Porter Hall got his job, I take it?"

Arc sighed. "I owed Jared some favours. Employing a guy who has the credentials isn't exactly up there on the list of 'worst things you could possibly get asked'."

"I suppose it isn't," Bowman said, leaning back in his chair. "And now I see why things are so complicated with Miss Xiao Long, though dare I ask why you _couldn't_ just tell her the truth?"

"From me? A total stranger?" Arc asked.

"Well, you helped bring her to Taiyang," Bowman said quietly. "With that, and everything else you've said, it strikes me that you've as much stake in the whole thing as Ruby Rose ever did."

"No," Arc said at once. "I don't. Taiyang… he's the one who raised her. It should be him."

Bowman sighed. "Would you prefer it if I didn't send her the information she requested?"

Arc's eye widened. "No! I… that would be a terrible thing to do. We'd make her feel persecuted, like there's some big conspiracy about it."

"There sort of _is,_ " Bowman pointed out with a slight quirk of his lips.

"I know," Arc said tiredly, "but I also know that students tend to think it's the _wrong_ sort of conspiracy. She'll start thinking that it's definitely true that Ruby was her mother, that we're trying to keep it from her deliberately. Then she'll start poking her nose in and that might… get the wrong attention."

Bowman nodded slowly. "I see what you mean. But you realise she'll likely use this to fuel her belief?"

"Maybe," Arc said. He ran a hand through the back of his hair. "I don't know. This is coming at a bad time. Glynda is asking for a lot of extra security work for the big anniversary ceremony, and that's taking a lot of my attention."

"Yes, she had a word with me about that," Bowman said. "Intriguing stuff - while I'd agree that the second Battle of Beacon was definitely something to shout about, I can't help but feel like this is not the best moment to have a large, easily targeted ceremony."

"I'd tend to agree," Arc said, "but Glynda's determined that we're not going to be intimidated by thugs, threats or terrorism. And you've met Glynda."

"I have indeed," Bowman said with a knowing nod. He frowned slightly. "Has she been well recently? I feel like we haven't seen much of her."

Arc sighed. "Busy, like me. Y'know, back in the day I used to think teachers were just Huntsmen and Huntresses who talked to students but still got to do all the cool stuff."

"Not so much anymore?" Bowman asked with a wry smile. "I know the feeling. I had a cousin or two who used to lament that there were only so many hours in the day. Think one of them had a time-bending semblance, so he had it a little easier, at least."

"Time-bending, huh?" Arc chuckled. "Sounds complicated."

"No doubt it was - and dangerous," Bowman shrugged. "He and his grandchildren went off travelling a while back, and at haven't heard much from them since. Still, cheerful lot."

Arc shook his head, still chuckling. "Well, I'm glad they are. I wish I could say the same."

"Darkness doesn't last forever," Bowman said confidently. "Any history teacher could tell you that. Dark times and light times jump between each other like… like a game of hopscotch. Or catch. Or… well, that metaphor is getting stretched," he finished, chuckling. "The point is… if times seem dark, they'll get brighter again. We just have to endure."

Arc sighed. "I just wish it was that simple."

* * *

 **A/N: As a side note, this chapter is the first I've done in a while without an Omake. Apologies for that. I'll probably leave off doing Omakes for the rest of this volume, unless I have a really great idea. If you want to see any particular part of the backstory elucidated on, don't hesistate to let me know, and I'll put it in (if it's appropriate to the Omakes). Cheers all.**


	15. Fourteen: Teething Problems, Part 3

**Fourteen**

 **Teething Problems, Part 3**

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, 20th September, year 106 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad).**

Toshiro Mono was a strict teacher, there was no question of that. He was also unusual in his methodology: starting with the third class, he had begun inviting students to the stage of the combat lecture room. There, students would spar either with each other, or if they were _really_ unlucky, he'd make them spar with _him_.

Richard Atreus was really, _really_ unlucky.

Mono was currently swiping his katana - a weapon he had grandiosely titled "Servant of Fate" - in Richard's direction, forcing him to dodge backwards. The strikes were lazy, and Mono looked almost bored as he kept the blows coming, forcing Richard further and further backwards. He brought Atreides up, firing at the teacher, but the man simply dodged the shot, before stopping, holding himself in a lazy guard stance.

"Are you even trying, Richard Atreus?" he asked.

Richard scowled, before bringing his weapon up, firing at Mono, who seemed content just to dodge again. Glancing at the display, Richard noted with irritation that Mono had only used a little of his Aura up (most likely during his dodging and striking), clocking in at ninety seven percent left, while he was down to sixty five percent. At twenty, he would automatically forfeit the match.

 _I can't win against this bastard,_ he thought grimly, _but I can sure as hell give him a bloody nose at least. Aim for seventy five, Richard._

Changing his tactics, Richard charged at Mono, firing as he did so. Mono dodged, but Richard kept his charge up, before slamming into Mono, knocking him back.

 _Ninety five._

Mono grunted, before stabbing forward, but Richard dodged the strike, aiming his cannon at Mono point blank and firing. The shot didn't quite miss, but Mono spun and dodged the worst of it, only taking a sonic blast to the shoulder.

 _Ninety._

Mono grinned. "There! There is your fire!"

He charged at Richard, swinging his katana downward and forcing Richard to block with Atreides. The weapons sparked against each other, and then Richard allowed himself to drop backwards, kicking Mono over his head, but the Professor simply rolled with it, getting himself back into position. He smirked at Richard, who had also rolled into position and was already firing at him. This time, Mono dodged the blows whilst moving to close with him, his sword spinning, before he suddenly stabbed forward, narrowly missing Richard, following up with a series of slashing attacks that Richard barely dodged. Richard tried lashing out with a quick backhand strike, to try and stun Mono, but to his shock, the man caught his hand and headbutted him, stunning him.

A loud klaxon sounded, and Richard shook his head, regaining his senses, to see that he had been reduced to twenty percent of his Aura, and Mono only to eighty eight.

"A decent effort in the latter half," Mono congratulated him. "Try harder initially, and you may see improved results."

Richard snorted, before returning to his seat. Mono stared after him, his expression carefully neutral.

"You didn't do bad," Faye Arc said to him with a smirk. She had a small bruise on her forehead - her own bout with Mono had ended with her accidentally depleting her Aura and then bouncing her head off the wall, while only taking Mono down to ninety three percent. In Mono's words: "No finesse, only strength and predictable motions. You must vary your strikes!"

"Better than me," Erika muttered. Richard made a point of studiously ignoring her: she had managed to hold her own for longer than he had, but her defensive strategy - "too passive", according to Mono - had only driven him down to ninety five percent before he'd broken past her defences and knocked her Aura down to nineteen percent with a series of devastating hits.

"Why does he do this, anyway?" Augur (who hadn't had the pleasure of a spar with Mono yet) asked.

The entire class was having similar conversations - this was only the third lesson with such sparring, and no one quite saw the point of fights that clearly, none of them could win.

"There will be silence!" Mono called out, and the room quieted down.

 _Here we go,_ Richard thought. _Time for another long, boring lecture about how crap we all are._

"You may wonder," the Professor began, crossing his arms, "why I choose to spar with students. It seems clear from this," he motioned to the monitor, still displaying his and Richard's Auras, "that I am the superior fighter. This is as I should be, given that I am older and more experienced. Rest assured, I am not doing this to stroke my ego."

 _Never crossed my mind,_ Richard thought, rolling his eyes.

"You do not grow merely through victory," Mono continued. "If you win every spar in the school, but then go into the field and face a foe you cannot defeat… that may break you. You cannot afford to break in the real world, and so you must learn the taste of defeat here and now. You must learn how it feels to pick yourself back up. To train to fight harder, faster, smarter. Believe me when I say, it is better to experience this when you have the safety net of your fellow students, the school, and more to support you."

"Makes sense," Taylor Hermann muttered from next to Augur. "Ego half the reason hunters die. Damage ego in youth, train upward from there. Safer than damaged ego in adulthood. Catastrophic to fragile egos."

"Huh," Richard grunted. "Sounds like bollocks to me."

Erika threw him a glance, but he kept ignoring her.

"In any case," Mono said. "My spars are done for today. I will select students for sparring." He went to his scroll. "Student Jo Xiao Long. Student Taylor Hermann."

Taylor stood, cracking her knuckles as she did so. Jo also stood up, her hand unconsciously going to the clasp of her cloak. Richard gave them a brief sarcastic wave as they went.

"Who you betting on?" Augur asked him.

"No bet," Richard said tiredly. "Taylor's an unknown quantity. And Jo's Jo."

"Oh, come on," Augur chuckled. "Sayin' that, I'd bet even money on this one."

"I'm for Jo, all the way - that endurance of hers is a killer," Faye put in, leaning forward.

"Oh yeah?" Augur asked with a cheeky smirk.

Faye gave him a quick scowl before returning her attention to the fight. "They're both brawlers, right? Should make it a bit closer - all depends what style they end up favouring, which one works better."

"That's not quite accurate," Edwin put in from further along, pushing his glasses up on his nose. "I finished the prototype of Taylor's new weapon this morning. Whether she chooses to use it in this fight or not is a different question, but…"

"I guess we'll have to see," Richard cut in.

Jo and Taylor took their positions opposite one another, Jo settled into her usual boxer stance and Taylor simply standing with her hands in her pockets like always, waiting.

"Begin," Mono called out calmly.

Jo began circling, and Taylor simply stayed put, her eyes following the other girl carefully. Richard found himself losing interest in the fighting as Jo charged Taylor, his eyes instead drifting around the room.

 _Toshiro Mono,_ he thought idly. _That kimono is in the drab brown of the Dreizan Templars. Means he probably trained with them, even if he doesn't consider himself an active member: no way to be sure._

His eyes drifted back to the fight. Jo and Taylor were exchanging blows - Jo was fighting like a boxer, focusing on powerful jabs and hooks and blocking with her elbows. Taylor's style was more improvisational, mixing punches, kicks, and attempts at grappling. The main advantage Taylor had was her knuckle dusters, but even then the display was showing that their Aura levels were about even at 96% each.

 _Huh,_ Richard thought blandly. _This might actually be interesting._

* * *

 _Even playing field,_ Taylor thought, eyeing the board. She looked back at Jo, who was back in her guard stance. _Her advantages - endurance and strength. My advantages: fighting style, speed, aggression. Exploit last one, catch foe off balance._

Her course of action decided, Taylor felt a smirk grace her face. Jo frowned slightly, clearly thrown off balance by that.

 _Good._

Taylor suddenly launched a blistering attack on Jo, first lashing out with her left arm, then her right, forcing Jo to block. Then she launched a haymaker that forced Jo to move one arm out of the central block to intercept - with that arm now an easy target, Taylor trapped it, spinning Jo around and kicking her in the back, before attacking again now that she was off balance, landing blows to her stomach and head, before finishing off with a roundhouse kick that sent Jo sprawling to the ground.

Taylor grunted with satisfaction at the result. _That should do trick._

She threw a glance at the board, but the Aura numbers hadn't shifted as much as she'd anticipated. A glowing _88_ was next to Jo's icon, while her own number had been reduced to 94.

"Hrm," she grunted, looking to Jo, who was standing and had her arms back up in her guard stance. _More measured approach? No: against superior Aura endurance, would lose battle of attrition. New tactic._

She began circling, putting her hands back in her pockets. Jo began circling to match her, the two moving around one another, both waiting. Jo didn't seem to be analysing Taylor, but Taylor knew the girl was clever - cleverer than she acted.

 _Could be distracted, though,_ she thought. _Verbal spar may work?_

"How's your _research_ going?" she said.

Jo paused, scowling. "Is that the game we're playing now?"

Taylor shrugged. "As saying goes. All's fair in love and -"

With a roar of rage, Jo charged at her, moving almost faster than Taylor could see. The first haymaker, Taylor could just about block, but the second one sent her flying, rolling to a stop just before the edge of the stage.

"Hrm," she grunted. _Perhaps adjusting strategy would be wise._

She saw Jo charging at her, and it was at this point that brought her new weapon out: a small, sleek pistol that extended out as she aimed it, before unleashing Dust rounds in Jo's direction. Panicking, Jo dodged sideways, but Taylor was certain that most of her shots had impacted, and judging by the 81% reading next to Jo's name, she'd actually made a dent.

 _Still less than expected,_ she thought, frowning at her own number. 80%. After the amount of hits she'd landed?

Taylor stood, aiming and firing more and forcing Jo to dodge. The girl recovered her wits quickly though, rolling and then charging towards Taylor, before striking at her pistol arm. Taylor dodged the strike, before smacking Jo in the face with the butt of her pistol. Jo scowled, but didn't relent, instead grabbing Taylor and throwing her to the _other_ side of the stage.

The number on the board next to Jo's name read 80%. Taylor's number, on the other hand, was now 70. She grimaced, standing and bringing her pistol up again, but this time Jo dashed forward, still moving faster than Taylor could clock, slamming herself elbow first into Taylor's stomach. Taylor doubled over, winded, and then Jo elbowed her in the back.

 _Damn!_ Taylor thought, grunting with pain. Before she could try to do anything else, however, Jo had already picked her up and thrown her once more across the stage. Scrambling to her feet, she fired her pistol at Jo again, but the girl was barely staggered by the shots and didn't bother blocking them. Moving quickly, Taylor moved to avoid her and keep firing. Jo's Aura metre gradually went down - 78, 76, 74…

Suddenly, Jo dashed again, slamming into Taylor and sending her off-balance. With a single strike she jarred Taylor's arm, forcing her to drop her weapon. Taylor redirected her second punch, but all Jo did was backhand her with that hand instead, before following with another punch. With a final grunt of effort, Jo kicked Taylor off the stage.

"Enough!" Mono called out. "Spar concluded - victory to Jo Xiao Long!"

Taylor grunted as she stood up, noting the final numbers - Jo had 68% of her Aura left, but Taylor had been reduced to 45%.

 _Fairly conclusive result,_ Taylor noted. _Note to self - Jo relies on endurance, power strikes and bursts of speed, but has little ranged defence. Maintain range at any cost in future contests._

"Well fought," Jo congratulated her, holding out a hand.

Taylor took the hand and gave it a perfunctory shake. "Not well enough. Good bout. Must have rematch sometime."

With that, she returned to her seat, hands firmly in her pockets, already ruminating over her performance.

* * *

"Should have figured Jo would win," Richard muttered, frowning at the final score. It looked pretty conclusive, but having watched the fight Richard knew that Jo had been pretty stumped at points. If it weren't for her Aura apparently being made of steel, Richard was fairly certain Taylor would have owned the match.

"Nice one," Erika congratulated Jo as she took her seat.

"Thanks," Jo replied. "Honestly, I don't know how I didn't lose that. When she pulled that pistol I thought that was the end."

"She got some good hits in," Richard noted, pointing to the board. "Before _and_ after she started using her pistol."

Jo nodded. "You're right. I need to work on fighting ranged opponents." She looked at Nova. "Extra practice at the weekend?"

"Sure!" Nova said with a smile.

Richard sat back in his chair, massaging his head. He hadn't notice the small headache he had been developing during the practice fight with Mono or during Taylor and Jo's contest, but now that he wasn't thinking about anything else his mind had helpfully reminded him that he was still getting withdrawal headaches.

"Alright," Mono said, getting the attention of the class back. "This session has been acceptable. The class's progress remains within tolerable boundaries. I am disappointed by some of the sparring I have seen," and here his eyes passed over team JRNE, "but even within that disappointment there is promise. The class is dismissed."

Richard let out a sigh and then stood, following the rest of the team out as they went. He was just glad they had a free period now - he didn't think he could stand yet another round of listening to some teacher or another nattering at him.

Predictably, Jo and Nova went ahead, Jo asking questions and Nova responding with nods or shakes of the head. Richard found himself walking alongside Erika.

"How are you?" she asked quietly.

He didn't dignify that with a response. He didn't know whether it was because he was still angry at her, or whether it was because he felt guilty for how he had acted before. Maybe both.

She quickened her pace, before stepping in front of him, crossing her arms and stopping him from moving forward.

"We need to have a conversation," she said calmly.

Richard took a deep breath. "You might be right about that." He sighed. "Come on, let's go to the grounds. Fresh air will do my headache good."

Erika frowned as she followed him. "You have a headache?"

"Just come on."

* * *

Jo sat back on her bed, feeling a sense of odd restlessness. Nova had gone off to train, but for the moment Jo just felt the need to sit and wait. Training wouldn't take her mind off of things.

Dr Bowman had yet to send her the information that she and asked for, and even if he did, she didn't know what she'd do with it. There were still so many things that she didn't know, so many things that she didn't understand. And part of her was beginning to wonder if maybe, just maybe, she was worrying about it too much.

 _Who would she be to me?_ Jo thought, thinking of her mother - whoever her mother was. _Whether it's Ruby Rose or whoever. Who would those people be to me -_

There was a knocking at the door, and she came out of her thoughts, frowning at the door.

"Who is it?" she asked.

The door opened, and Faye poked her head in. "You decent, Jo?"

Jo stuck her tongue out. "Just come in if you're coming in."

Faye grinned and stepped in the door. "How're you doing?"

"Well, the lesson was fun," Jo said, laying her head back against her pillow. "And by 'fun' I mean 'who in all the hells knew Taylor had a pistol?'"

"She calls it Nein," Faye supplied helpfully. "Ed started work on the prototype for her at the weekend, then he apparently finished it this morning. This is the first time she's used it."

"That's a _prototype_?" Jo asked, incredulous. "Darn. I'd hate to go up against Mark Two."

"You give Ed a week and he'll give her Mark Nine," Faye said, before chuckling at her own poor play on words.

Jo rolled her eyes. "You come in here just to throw bad puns at me?"

"Nope," Faye said. "Came in here to talk about R.R."

Realising who Faye meant, Jo sat up. "I ran into your dad. He told me that you spoke to him."

"He talked to you about it?" Faye asked.

"Only to tell me he'd talk to me properly about it another time," Jo said, sighing. "And to tell me that Ruby Rose _isn't_ my mother."

"You believe him?" Faye asked.

"Don't you?" Jo retorted.

Faye shrugged. "About this? I…" She paused, looking conflicted for a moment. "I think he keeps secrets about stuff if he thinks he has to."

Jo frowned. "From you?"

"Yeah," Faye said, a rueful smile on her face. "I didn't get anything from him either. Except that he didn't say anything about Ruby having a daughter."

Jo frowned. "So… the resemblance might be…"

"Just a coincidence, sure," Faye said, folding her arms. "But do you think so?"

Jo thought about the question. "She _looks_ … so much like me, Faye."

Faye nodded slowly. "Been looking at the pictures." She paused. "There's no info on why she disappeared. Not anywhere. Even asked a snooty bitch whose aunt was apparently in Team RWBY, but no joy there."

Jo put her head back down on the pillow, looking up at her ceiling with a sigh. "Why am I even bothering. I guess everybody will tell me the big secret when they think I have the right to know."

"Screw that," Faye said, snorting derisively. "You have a right to know _now_."

"I guess," Jo said quietly. She smiled at Faye. "But y'know, there's a part of me that thinks… maybe I've been letting this get in the way too much."

"In the way?" Faye repeated.

"Y'know, of making friends, getting to know people," Jo said.

Faye snorted. "You and I are pretty good friends, or at least I thought so."

Jo kept smiling. "Yeah. I guess we are at that."

* * *

Richard and Erika ended up in the main courtyard. It was fairly quiet today, no students milling about. If Erika had to guess, it was because they were practicing - more than a few students in the first year had felt the need to up their game since sparring with Toshiro Mono. Especially teams DSTY and AGSN, both of whom had taken him on as an entire team and still been soundly trounced.

"So," Richard said, sitting down. "Conversation?"

Erika sighed. "We haven't spoken in a few days."

"Yup, that's right," Richard said, nodding. Erika had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. "I've been… thinking about what you said. About what Porter said."

"And…?" Erika asked.

"It's not a crutch," Richard said at once. "Or… it's not supposed to be. It's supposed to make me better. But I…" He paused. "I feel like… like I'm torn. Like I know I use too much. But I don't want to believe it."

Erika took a deep breath. "What do you want to do?"

"I'm torn there, too," Richard said quietly. "Part of me just wants to keep using it. To keep doing as I have been." He looked at her, his expression betraying his uncertainty. "And part of me realised that you're all… you're all right, that this… this feeling isn't normal."

 _He really is torn,_ Erika thought. She tried to give him a small smile, hoping it came off as friendly.

"I'm your partner," she said quietly. "I'd like to hope I can become your friend. If… if you want to change the course you're taking… I'm with you all the way."

Richard looked at the floor, his expression still uncertain. He closed his eyes, whispering something to himself - Erika only caught the words ' _will'_ and ' _move mountains_ '. Finally, he looked at her, his expression stronger.

"Alright," he said. "Alright."

Erika felt her smile widen. _Finally. Progress._ She just hoped he would follow this path with the same conviction he started it with.

* * *

 _Wonder what Glynda wants anyway?_ Jaune thought to himself as he rode the elevator to the Headmistress' office. _I hope it's nothing too strenuous. Not sure I need it right now._

He winced slightly as he scratched the join between his cybernetic arm and his stump. Even though his doctors and all the various neurosurgeons who'd helped instal the thing had told him he'd get used to the limb, there were times that he felt like he'd never be able to get over the itching.

Stroking his beard and idly wondering if he should trim it like Pyrrha had told him, Jaune rolled his shoulders. Thinking of Pyrrha made him feel a twinge of concern, but he brushed it off. She was fine. That was enough.

He felt another itch under his eyepatch, but he was moderately sure he knew where that had come from.

 _Whatever she wants, it's probably important,_ he thought, returning his attention to Glynda. Despite himself, he couldn't help but think it was probably school-important, not world-important. _Which is still important, Jaune._

The lift pinged as it reached the Headmistress' office floor, and Jaune stepped out.

Glynda Goodwitch hadn't made too many changes to Ozpin's old office in terms of the decor when she had rebuilt it. Most of what she'd done had been structural - having the pillars and beams reinforced. There were less decorations than in the old days, too, giving the room a spartan feel. And then there was Glynda herself, standing with her back to him.

"Jaune," Glynda said quietly.

It was only when he was in the same room as her that he realised just how much she had changed in what had been nearly thirty years. Her hair was white, and there were more lines around her mouth and eyes than when they had first met. Aura being unlocked - combined with the intense training Huntsmen and Huntresses did their entire lives - meant that even the oldest Huntsmen barely looked into their sixties. Glynda couldn't be younger than seventy, but she held herself with the same energy she always had.

"Glynda," he said. "You wanted to talk?"

"A few things," Glynda said quietly. "I've been looking over faculty reports on the first years. A good selection of students with reasonable skill sets. They've acclimated well, judging by these reports." Her lips quirked slightly. "Even Professor Mono seems less than irritated with their progress."

Jaune smirked. "Yeah. Toshiro actually told me their performances so far were 'tolerable' the other day. Can you believe that?"

"Barely," Glynda chuckled. She sighed. "That aside, there is one student issue that's come up."

Jaune's smirk faded. "Jo Xiao Long?"

"Dr Bowman spoke with me about her request - and your conversation," Glynda said quietly. "I remind you - I agreed to Miss Xiao Long's admission to Beacon on the proviso that her… _special circumstances_ were not an issue."

"The girl's confused and faced with answers to questions she's probably been dealing with all her life," Jaune pointed out. "I can deal with her. Trust me on this, Glynda."

Glynda nodded slowly. "If I didn't trust you, Mr Arc, you wouldn't be my deputy. Now - to other matters." She paused. "There are still security concerns throughout the Kingdom. I've had the council demanding I take action about the bombings. However I don't believe there is much that can yet be done."

"I've tried getting intel, but a lot of the old crowd aren't as with it as they used to be," Jaune told her. "And a lot of Hunters still haven't returned from helping deal with Grimm in Vacuo."

"No, I imagine they wouldn't," Glynda said quietly. "Perhaps - given that we've made an effort to help them - the Dreizan Templars might send us help in return?"

Jaune clucked his tongue, knowing that his dubiousness was being spelled out on his face. "I can get 'Shiro to ask them, but it's been a long time since the Wall."

"If any group remains reliable, the Templars will," Glynda said quietly. "Given what they represent."

Jaune sighed. "What somebody represents and who somebody is… those are two different things entirely, Glynda. You know that as well as I do."

"True enough," Glynda agreed with a frown of consternation. "But we will need them, won't we."

"Will we?" Jaune asked, feeling his own brow furrows in confusion almost involuntarily. "You sound like you know something."

"No more than you do, Mr Arc," Glynda said quietly. "But there's something on the air." She gave him a wry smile. If Ozpin - excuse me, _Oscar_ \- were here, no doubt he would either assuage my fears or confirm them. But either way, we are the ones here, and we are the ones destined to deal with what comes."

Jaune nodded slowly. "I guess you're right. What was it Quinn said once, at the Wall?"

"'All is as the universe wills it'," Glynda said quietly. "I wish I had his confidence."

* * *

 **Omake 11: The Wall - Yang and Ruby.**

 **Vale City outer wall. 84 ABC.**

"So," Yang said, cracking her one organic hands knuckles in anticipation. "You want the ten thousand on the left or the ten thousand on the right?"

It wasn't exactly an exaggeration. There were thousands of Grimm out there, waiting for some unknown signal to attack the wall.

Vale's outer wall was one of the largest ones in Remnant: a large, metal and stone construction, with old-fashioned battlements supplemented by modern turrets installed in newer metallic towers along the walkways. As impressive as it looked, however, the horde was enough to make it look paltry.

It was the most organised that any of them had ever seen the Grimm hordes, as rows and rows of Beowolves and Ursae waited alongside more uncommon Grimm like Nuckleavae, King Tajitus and worse: a sign, perhaps, that Salem's hand was at work (whoever and whatever 'Salem' truly was, since Oscar had still been more coy than any of them would like about that).

"I'll take the left," Ruby said, giving her sister a smile. Ruby's attire - the somber tunic, leggings and battered red cloak - was a far cry from the childish gear she had worn when they had first come to Beacon. She had grown so much.

"You're on," Yang said. She leant over the edge of the wall, and suppressed the childish urge to spit over it. "This is all a bit like a movie, huh? An army on the wall, an army out there… where's the orchestra when you need 'em, huh?"

"I know what you mean," Ruby said quietly. She brought Crescent Rose out and extended it into its scythe form, aiming it out at the horde. "What's the bet I can snipe thirty before they get here?"

"Not takin' that one!" Yang chuckled. "You don't even need to _aim_."

"Not much," Ruby agreed. She looked at Yang, and her expression sobered. "Honest question?"

"Honest answer," Yang replied with a wink, before feeling her mirth die off. "What's up, Sis?"

"Do you think we're going to survive?" Ruby asked quietly. "I mean… _really_ think we are?"

Yang made a soft 'hmm' sound, considering the question. She stepped back from the battlements, looking along at their own defences. There were regular Huntsmen there, dozens of individuals in unique and colourful attire, with equally unique and colourful weapons. There were more than a few dozen regular soldiers of the kingdom as well, along with men and women volunteering from Atlesian units. There were even Dreizan Templar sentinels in their golden armour and masks, alongside members of their order like Quinn Kane, Nox Skye and Toshiro Mono.

"We've got a lot of good folks here," Yang said after considering the numbers they had. "They're tough, they're dependable… so maybe we'll make it. No getting around it, though, we're not all getting through tonight."

Ruby nodded slowly. "But you think we can win in the end?"

"In the end?" Yang asked, and then she shrugged.. "I don't know. But there's a chance." She bumped her fists together and grinned. "And that chance is all I need."

Ruby grinned. "I'm glad you're here with me, Yang."

"Me too, Rubes," Yang said, looking back over the horde. "I mean, killing twenty thousand Grimm on my own would just get repetitive after a while."

* * *

 **AN:** _Hey guys, random but fairly important note here._

 _You may have noticed references to characters named Quinn Kane and Nox Skye in this chapter. Those characters were originally created for a RWBY story I wrote called OBEE - which I wrote as a spin-off of the incredible next-gen story GRAP, written by the superbly talented RoyalPsycho (a story, or rather a series of stories, that I heartily and totally recommend to anyone wanting to read more next-gen stuff). You might, however, notice that OBEE isn't on my profile anymore._

 _Basically, I've decided that I love the characters of OBEE so much that I wanted to incorporate them into the Journey story, and the notion of writing these characters in my own story - rather than serving RoyalPsycho's vision, which is an awesome vision but, as anyone who reads both stories will note, massively different from my own - was a tempting one, and obviously opens more possibilities for them than using them as, ultimately, secondary characters in someone else's story (which Nox Skye, and his children - originally created for OBEE - have become if you read GRAP's amazing second volume, which I'm honoured to help with)._

 _Basically, the long and the short of it is that RoyalPsycho's story has versions of these characters, who are no longer related in storyline terms to the ones who will be referenced in this story and - hopefully - will appear in their own. In the meantime, again, I strongly recommend that you go read GRAP. It's basically the reason I'm writing Journey right now._


	16. Fifteen: The Final Days Of Peace

**Fifteen**

 **The Final Days Of Peace**

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, 30th September, year 106 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad).**

"Okay!" Faye said, spinning her sword in her hand and projecting an air of supreme confidence. "This is _it_ , team. The enemy are out there, and they're tough sons of bitches!"

Augur, Taylor and Edwin gave a collective groan. The three of them were used to this kind of semi-serious motivational speech (Faye liked giving these), but that didn't make hearing them any less of a pain.

The group were standing in a waiting area, just outside one of the best arenas in the school. They'd made a point of picking this one for today's bout: a lot was riding on it, after all. Augur noted that Edwin's armour seemed extra shiny, with a few new gizmos attached.

"By now we know what they're capable of," Faye continued, pacing in front of her team with all the fire of a general leading her troops into battle. "They're tough, adaptable, strong, unified - but we're Team FATE! We're the best in our year!"

This was at best a dubious assertion based on the results of a few test spars, and at worst a baseless claim that anyone with half a brain cell would realise was empty bravado. Nobody disputed her, though: they knew better.

"So," Faye concluded, stopping dead centre in front of her team and gesturing sharply at each of them. "We're gonna go out there, we're gonna do our best, and we're gonna show those guys who's boss!"

She stopped, looking smug, but quickly deflated when she realised that the entire team was just looking at her like she was crazy.

"So, motivational speech aside," Augur put in, chuckling, "what exactly is the plan?"

Faye shrugged. "Wing it, beat the guy who engages you, and hope for the best?"

"Not exactly comprehensive," Taylor grunted, looking less than impressed.

"Hey," Faye said, folding her arms in irritation. "I'm not gonna come up with a plan just for it to last ten seconds before it needs adjusting anyway. We know the enemy, and we know each other." She pointed to Taylor. "If you and me engage close up," and she pointed to Edwin and Augur next, "while you two cover us, we should be golden, and if it shifts we'll adjust strategy." She looked back at Taylor. "Happy?"

Taylor shrugged, and Faye rolled her eyes.

"To be fair, like you said, we know the enemy," Augur said dryly, chuckling slightly to himself. "I'm fairly certain we'll be able to make something work."

"Why are we calling Team JRNE the enemy?" Edwin asked.

Faye blinked. "Because we're about to go into battle against them. They're the enemy. And we will _destroy_ them." She paused. "Figuratively, anyway."

Edwin nodded slowly, clearly not convinced.

"You just really wanna get out of buying drinks for everyone, right?" Augur asked.

Faye rolled her eyes again. "That is _so_ not it. I am really okay with buying drinks. _If_ we lose. Which we _won't_."

Augur held up a defensive hand. "Hey, it's okay as far as I'm concerned, sis. I don't plan on losing."

"No one plans on losing," Taylor put in grimly. "But still, people lose."

"Way to bring down the mood, Hermann," Faye muttered. "Alright, team: let's get out there!"

* * *

"Okay," Jo said, cracking her knuckles. "You know how this rodeo goes down. Pick your dance partners, tag team if you think you can, keep it moving and keep 'em confused."

"Hooray," Richard said, rubbing his head. Erika threw him a sidelong glance.

 _He hasn't taken his substitute,_ she thought. Part of her was worried about his performance, but she was more worried about how it would affect him. She knew withdrawal headaches could sometimes be downright debilitating.

"Nova, you okay staying on ranged?" Jo asked her partner.

Nova nodded. She had Twintail joined together, the device set to what looked like a minigun configuration that she hadn't used much.

"Okay, then," Jo said. "Remember - we're relying on you to keep Ed and his bag of tricks on lockdown."

"Gotcha," Nova said.

"I'm still on Faye, right?" Erika asked.

"We'll swap between Taylor and Faye as we go," Jo said, looking uncertain for a moment, before nodding to herself. "They're the frontliners, so they're the ones we need to keep the most occupied."

"You've definitely got the advantage over Taylor," Richard said to Jo. "Even with her pistol, you're a much stronger brawler."

"That's the hope," Jo said quietly. "Whether it works out or not is a different question."

"It worked out last time you took her on," Richard pointed out.

"Last time, we'd never sparred before, so she didn't have a strategy," Jo retorted. "But that girl over-analyses _everything_. She'll already probably have twenty different ways to take me down."

"Maybe," Erika said, smiling reassuringly. "But the best laid plans are nothing without conviction, and if we work together, our conviction will be the strongest."

Jo nodded back at her, smiling in turn, and Erika felt a wave of relief. _The last thing we need is for her to start doubting herself._

"Okay," Jo said. "We ready?"

"Let's kick their arses," Richard grinned.

* * *

Jaune Arc folded his arms as he stood in the observation box, looking down at the arena as the two teams walked into the circle, taking their respective formations.

Glynda was with him, arms behind her back as she looked down at the students. It had been too long since she had taken the time to observe a sparring match between two teams, and she was looking forward to the opportunity.

"So," she said. "Teams JRNE and FATE. Which do you think has the advantage?"

Jaune threw her a sideways glance. "They're both reasonably high-ranked teams. Their scores are universally high."

Glynda chuckled. "Indeed."

A klaxon rang out, and the fight began. At once, Erika Schreiten and Faye Arc met in the middle, blades clashing, while Taylor Hermann and Jo Xiao Long began exchanging blows. A hail of Dust explosions surrounded the combatants as Edwin Nocturne threw a series of Dust grenades from his belt, staying as far back as he could. Many of the explosions happened in mid-air as Nova Valkyrie shot them before they could land - she rang around the circumference of the stage, forcing Edwin to move to stay ahead of her as they circled the centre combatants. Augur Arc and Richard Atreus, meanwhile, seemed content to take pot shots at each other from their respective positions.

"Individually, they're all reasonably impressive for their ages," Glynda observed as she watched the fight. Her eyes strayed to Faye Arc, who seemed stalemated with Miss Schreiten, neither of them able to break past the other's defences. "I have to say, though, neither of your children have quite the raw talent that Pyrrha did at that age."

Jaune chuckled. "You don't need to tell me that. I think it's good, though. There's less pressure for them, neither of them being 'the Invincible Girl' - or, y'know, boy in Augur's case."

"Indeed," Glynda said. Faye was managing to keep Erika on her toes, forcing the Faunus girl to keep on the back foot, but she was staying behind her shield too much to really press her advantage. "Living with that pressure can be incredibly difficult. It is, after all, one of the things that hampered Pyrrha's development."

"Well, not Faye or Augur," Jaune said confidently. Then he smirked. "They've got whole different issues."

"Oh?" Glynda asked, raising an amused eyebrow.

"Faye's chosen to emulate _me_ ," Jaune said, pointing to her as she charged at Erika, aiming for a slide kick that ultimately didn't work out. "Tower and Guardian are regular weapons with no mecha-shift abilities." He patted the hilt of Crocea Mors. "She didn't even make it with a double-handed sword configuration."

"Does the hero worship worry you?" Glynda asked.

"I'm not sure it's even hero worship," Jaune admitted, "nice as that would be. No," he continued, sucking a breath through his teeth. "I think… I think she just enjoys the style. She enjoys meeting her opponents head on, taking everything they dish out and still pushing through."

As he spoke, Faye managed to hit Erika in the head with her shield, knocking her to the ground. Erika's Aura went into the red, signalling that she had been defeated, but Faye's own Aura was reading at 35%. Tearing her eyes away from that contest, Glynda turned her attention to the centre conflict.

Taylor and Jo were evenly matched: Jo's style was more direct, but her Aura compensated where Taylor's did not. Taylor had more versatility, but her strikes weren't hitting with the raw force of Jo's.

"Not quite as finessed as Tai, huh?" Jaune commented, following Glynda's gaze. He winced as Taylor trapped Jo's arm, before throwing her to the floor and bringing her pistol out, getting a few shots in that sent Jo skidding along the floor. "Hard to believe… look at that move, she should have been more nimble."

"She doesn't have the muscle memory to be nimble, the training to know how to move," Glynda pointed out. "I have no doubt she could learn… in time."

As she spoke, Jo rolled and got to her feet, before charging at Taylor. The other girl got more shots off, but Jo powered her way through them, before knocking the pistol out of her hand.

"Still," Jaune said, frowning. "If she's not pushing herself to learn new techniques, she's doomed to fail when her _opponents_ learn."

Taylor had begun a blistering series of martial-arts assaults that Jo was having trouble blocking - her boxing moves were only so good against her more finessed opponent.

"She can afford to make these kinds of mistakes early on," Glynda said gently. "That's what school is for."

Jaune chuckled. "I don't remember that being how you saw it in my school days."

Glynda shrugged. "I was younger."

 _Weren't we all,_ she added in her head, as Jaune simply kept chuckling, returning his attention to the fight. Glynda watched as well, noting with surprise that Jo had replicated Taylor's arm trap - albeit inexpertly - and followed it up with a Mistrali throw.

"Huh," Jaune noted. "'Shiro said her style incorporated bits of Mistrali martial art, but that's the first she's used it in this fight. That must be Tai's influence."

"Indeed," Glynda agreed. She turned her attention to Augur Arc and the young Atreus, still exchanging pot shots at one another. "The teams certainly seem to have selected their requisite roles."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Jaune wondered aloud.

Glynda gave an enigmatic little smile. "What do you think?"

"I think I don't like it when you smile like that," Jaune said with a wry grin. "Reminds me too much of when I was down there."

Nova Valkyrie had, by this point, switched her weapons to their twin hammer configuration, and had engaged Faye, though her speedy hammer-strikes weren't getting past Faye's parries. Edwin Nocturne was still throwing Dust grenades, but he seemed to be more hesitant about it, trying to pick his targets. Unfortunately for him, Richard Atreus was starting to pay attention to him, firing some of his shots in the armoured boy's direction. Though he managed to dodge the sonic shots, it left him wide open for a sudden charge from Nova, who disengaged from Faye with a somersault and swung both her hammers at once, sending Edwin flying off of the battle area and out of the match.

"One all," Jaune said, folding his arms. "Not bad."

Glynda nodded, her eyes continuing to follow the fight. With a final series of devastating punches, Jo had sent Taylor's Aura into the red. She took a breath, only to find herself being shot at by Augur. She rolled, dodging as many arrows as she could. Fortunately for her, before she needed to deal with too many arrows, Augur had been tackled by Richard Atreus, who began fighting him hand-to-hand. Faye charged at Nova, who lashed out with her hammers but couldn't get past Faye's defence, and the girl responded by kicking out, sending Nova sprawling. Faye growled, before charging at Nova and ramming her shield straight in the other girl's face, throwing her backwards off of the arena.

And just like that, the only unengaged combatants on the field were Jo and Faye.

"Very, _very_ interesting," Glynda said with an approving smile.

* * *

Jo cracked her knuckles, rolling her shoulders as Faye, breathing heavily, took a guard stance.

"What you on?" she asked, giving a cocky grin.

Jo glanced at her wrist. "Sixty. You?"

Faye whistled. "Twenty two. I'm this close to bein' out of the game."

Jo tilted her head. "You sure you wanna do this?"

"Hells yes," Faye grinned. "You think I'm giving up then you've got another thing coming."

Jo chuckled. "Yeah, good point. You wouldn't be the Faye we all know and love if you quit now." She settled into a combat stance. "You wanna go first?"

Faye gave a mock bow. "If you insist."

And suddenly she dashed forward, moving so fast that Jo almost didn't see her ram her shield-first. Jo was thrown backwards, landing in a heap on the floor. Growling, she leapt to her feet, only to find herself being hit in the stomach by the pommel of Faye's sword. Grinning, Faye pressed her advantage, grabbing Jo in a headlock and bodyslamming her to the ground.

"How's that for an opening?" she asked cockily, stepping back as Jo groaned.

She looked up to the scoreboard, only for her expression to fall - Jo's Aura had only dropped to 45%.

"That was a good hit," Jo said, grimacing as she stood. She settled herself into a fighting stance. "My turn -?"

She couldn't finish her sentence properly, because Faye was already lashing out, forcing her to dodge and block.

 _If I land one hit,_ Jo thought, _just one, she's down._ She grimaced in concentration. _Okay then, this'll hurt but -_

She held one hand up and _caught_ Tower in her hand. Faye's eyes widened in shock, and then with a grunt of effort, Jo wrenched Tower from her hand, pulling her off-balance. With a single punch to the face, Jo sent Faye to the ground.

There was a momentary pause as everyone took in what had just happened. Jo let out a breath, and relaxed. Faye let out a groan of pain, but it was mixed with a little snort of laughter.

"How's that for a reply?" Jo asked, cracking her knuckle.

Faye started chuckling, pushing herself to her feet. "Not bad." She glanced up at the scoreboard, which showed her Aura at 18%. "Damn, that's not bad at all."

Jo looked at the board as well - her own Aura now read at 36%. "You could have had me."

"Underestimated your damn Aura," Faye said, moving one hand up to her shoulder. "Should've kept going 'til I was sure." She frowned. "Hey, weren't Richard and Augur still…?"

She was distracted by a loud curse, and the two girls looked towards the edge of the arena. Both boys had scuffled themselves off the board, leaving Jo the only combatant not disqualified, and Augur was currently looking less than thrilled, while Richard was still lying dazed on the floor.

"Huh," Faye said quietly. "I guess team JRNE wins?"

Jo snorted, smirking. "Doesn't feel like a win to me. I'm happy to call it a draw if you are."

"Hey, you won," Faye said, holding up a hand. She smirked. "Next time, though…"

"Next time," Jo winked. "Anyway, if we won…"

Faye sighed. "Yup. Get your guys together. I guess we owe you a drink."

* * *

Glynda nodded slowly. "A close result."

"Definitely," Jaune agreed. He looked at the scoreboard. "Jo's Aura is definitely stronger than normal."

"Indeed," Glynda said, turning away from the observation window. "You were going to talk to her at some point, weren't you? About all of the… _issues_ she's been having."

Jaune sighed. "At some point, when my schedule has a minute to fit her in."

"I see," Glynda said quietly. "Alright then."

* * *

"And then he's like, 'how do you think _you_ were born?'" Augur laughed, before grimacing. "Gods, still makes me feel a bit sick."

Richard and Edwin chuckled as well, both of them holding open bottles of soda. They were all sat in Team FATE'S room, which was somewhat larger than JRNE's, and even had a TV. One side of the room was dominated by a work desk on which there were several bits and pieces that Edwin had apparently been working ("but most of it isn't ready yet!").

Jo, Faye, Nova and Erika were sitting on one of the beds and watching some trash show or another - Augur didn't particularly care. He was just happy that they weren't watching a romantic comedy: he'd seen enough of those when his parents were watching them to know that they were _not_ his sort of thing.

"Oh, before I forget," Edwin suddenly said, going over to his desk. "Erika, can I borrow you for a minute?"

Faye and Erika got off of the bed, Erika rolling her shoulders slightly.

"You okay, 'Gur?" Faye asked her brother, walking up to the conversation. "You guys sure you don't wanna come watch this?"

"Pretty sure," Augur chuckled. "You having fun?"

"Be having more fun if we hadn't lost," Faye said, sticking a tongue out at him. "This whole setup was a lot of money. That's premium soda, not cheap Fresco-brand crap." Her expression softened. "But yeah. This is fun."

"Good," Augur said. He motioned to Jo. "Company's not bad."

Faye narrowed her eyes. "Not a word, smart-ass."

"Not a word," Augur agreed. "You any closer to figuring it out?"

"Nope," Faye said, "but I'll get there in the end."

"Or someone'll step in before you do," Augur countered.

Faye said nothing, merely scowling at him, before going to sit down next Jo again. Augur sighed.

 _Get your act together one way or another, Sis, because staying still just means you get left behind._

* * *

"What can I help you with?" Erika asked, folding her arms as Edwin hunched over something on his work-bench.

"Actually, I was hoping I could help you," Edwin said, turning and holding a dagger out hilt first.

Erika frowned, reaching out and taking the dagger. She flipped it, spun it and generally tried to feel its weight. It was well made, of that there was no question, with a silver blade and white faux-ivory handle, complete with a gem set in the hilt.

"It's an old Faunus d-design," Edwin said, stammering slightly. "I mean, I don't know how important that stuff is to you, but I figured if it even slightly was it'd be nice to have something - y'know, something kind of part of your c-cultural heritage. It's an old hunting knife design, for a kickoff, and the gem is a plain jewel that I had imported from Menagerie."

"Hunting knife," Erika repeated, holding it up. "Yeah, I think I've seen designs like this before."

"But that's not all!" Edwin said. "It should be perfectly balanced for throwing, and with these -" He turned and grabbed a pair of bracers from his desk, holding them out to her, "you can retrieve it with a customised, personalised polarity lock. Watch."

He clicked a small switch on the bracers, and the knife flew from Erika's hand into the bracers, clanging against the metal.

"So, now, you've got range," Edwin finished, smiling.

Erika chuckled. "All this from a conversation we had weeks ago?"

"Well, yeah," Edwin said. "I know you and I haven't really had many talks, b-but I didn't think it was fair to criticise your style if I didn't have a solution. And y-you said you didn't like guns."

Erika smiled. "That's sweet. Thanks, Edwin."

"You can call me Ed if you like," Edwin said, smiling back. "I'd - uh - better get back to my work, actually. Taylor had some modifications to Nein that she wanted me to do."

Sure enough, Taylor's boxy little pistol was lying on the desk, the inner workings exposed.

"Alright," Erika said quietly. "I'd offer to help, but I'm not really all that up on weapon mechanics."

"No worries," Edwin said, smiling. "I prefer working on my own with these kind of things anyway."

He went back to his work and Erika walked back to the bed, hopping onto the end of the bed next to the others and setting herself down comfortably.

"So, where we at?" she asked.

Jo grinned. "Oh, the guys are about to take on some Grimm that are breaking the defences, but Danny hasn't told them that he's injured so he might bleed out and -"

"Ssh," Nova hissed. "Good bit."

Erika grinned. _This isn't so bad. It's good, even._

There was a buzz, and Jo took her scroll out. Erika felt her ear twitch as something in the air changed.

"You okay?" Faye asked Jo.

"Uh, yeah," Jo said. "I've got to go. Thing's come up. Catch you guys in a bit?"

She stood up and quickly left the dorm room, and Erika frowned. There had definitely been something off about that. Judging from the concerned expression Faye was pulling, it wasn't anything particularly good.

* * *

When Jo reached the door to Deputy Headmaster Arc's office, she hesitated. What answers was she about to get? Not all of them, that much was certain… Arc had been pretty clear that he wasn't going to tell her everything.

 _Then why tell me anything,_ she wondered. She glanced down at her scroll: receiving a message summoning her to Arc's office wasn't exactly up there with the things that she had been expecting - or wanting - from today, but at least she had some answers to look forward to.

She knocked gently on the door.

"Come in," an entirely unexpected voice called.

Raising an eyebrow, Jo stepped into the office, to see Glynda Goodwitch leaning on a desk, looking at a scroll. The older woman smiled at Jo as she entered.

"Hello, Jo," she said quietly. "I've been looking forward to meeting you."

Jo frowned slightly. "Professor Goodwitch. Can I help you, at all?"

"No, but perhaps I can help you," Goodwitch said, standing up. "I've been speaking with Professor Arc about some… conversations he's been having with you."

Jo felt her frown deepen. "I… uh, what conversations, Professor?"

"There's no need to dance around the topic," Goodwitch said quietly. "You've had questions about your family - questions some of the things you've seen around here have only exacerbated for you"

"Oh. That." Jo took a breath. "Yeah. I guess you could say that."

Goodwitch nodded. "I'm aware of your circumstances. Professor Arc made me aware many years ago of the… situation, regarding your family."

Jo frowned. "But… I only decided to come to Beacon in August. Why would he have told you?"

"It was not in his capacity as a teacher that he informed me, but rather in his capacity as a Huntsman," Glynda said quietly. "As the Headmistress of Beacon, I am kept aware of… scenarios that may pose a threat to the security of the realm."

Jo's eyes widened. "I… what? Why does that involve me?"

Glynda sighed. "The place you were born… was not an ordinary place. You were retrieved from it by Professor Arc, among others. That is why he is aware of the circumstances of your birth. And those circumstances, I'm afraid, were sufficiently concerning that there remains a threat."

"My… are…" Jo didn't know how to process this. "He… he wasn't lying, when he said Ruby Rose isn't my mother."

"No, he wasn't," Glynda said quietly. "But if it is any consolation, he also wasn't lying when he said your adopted father would tell you. I believe Jaune wants to be there as well - given that he was the one who delivered you to Taiyang, I dare say he has a vested interest."

"He was?" Jo asked quietly.

"He was," Glynda said quietly. "I believe he felt it was important. And so did Ruby Rose, who joined him on that final mission."

"She… she _was_ there?" Jo asked.

"She was," Glynda said quietly. "Indeed, much as many of the details of that mission are kept classified, I dare say it was the results of that mission that led to her current… exile." She sighed. "Not how Ruby Rose's career should have ended. She was a good person."

"I… I don't know what to say," Jo said quietly.

Glynda smiled. "I do not believe she would begrudge you your part in it. Though we never spoke about that mission, she chose to do what she did, and she always did what she thought was right."

Jo nodded slowly, before taking a breath. "Are… are my parents alive?"

Glynda gave her an odd look, before turning away from her for a moment.

"Your family were some of the greatest Hunters to grace Beacon," Glynda said quietly. "I do not believe it would be a lie to say that greatness is in your blood. That being said," she added, turning back to Jo, "I believe that it is in your own power to choose whether you live up to your potential. I watched your sparring match earlier, and it was an excellent effort - but you _can_ do better."

Jo lowered her head, feeling suitably chastised. "I… yes, Professor."

Glynda smiled softly. "Fear not, Miss Xiao Long. Having known your family, I can say with some confidence that they would have thought highly of you." She sighed. "Now, I wish I could make this conversation longer, but I am busy. Hopefully you and I will have an opportunity to speak at the Anniversary party on the fifth. Until then, study diligently." She gave a wry smile. "After all. You're the future."

Jo nodded. "Uh… thank you, Professor."

She turned and walked out of the room, feeling a sense of… uncertainty. She felt like she had been given answers, but also more questions.

 _Well,_ she thought to herself, _I guess I'll have answers to those when I finally speak to my Dad._

One thing was for certain. She had never expected to be told that her life involved a security risk. What in the hells could _that_ possibly mean? What could have happened, all those years ago? What had her parents been involved in that she had been born somewhere that needed _Huntsmen,_ including the legendary Ruby Rose of all people, to rescue her?!

… just who _was_ she?

* * *

 **Omake 12: The Wall - Blake.**

 **Vale City outer wall. 84 ABC.**

Blake looked out at the horde of Grimm beyond Vale's outer wall, and she couldn't help but wish that the Grimm were all that was out there. Unfortunately, fate was not smiling kindly upon her.

 _When does it ever._

"You seem troubled, Miss Belladonna," a quiet voice said from behind her. She turned, to see the long haired, kimono clad form of Quinn Kane, one of the many foreign Huntsmen who had come in answer to Vale's call for help. Kane was a Dreizan Templar, dedicated to a religion few outside their order understood.

"I am," she said quietly. "There are White Fang out there. Not long ago, I'd have been among them."

"Perhaps," Kane said, nodding slowly. "But that is the past. Your attention belongs in the here and now."

"Indeed," a colder voice said from nearby. A long-haired, younger man in a darker variation of Kane's attire was leaning on a massive Odachi sword, looking out at the battlefield with a cold smile. "We're about to enter a battle that will live in history."

"If we survive," Blake said, narrowing her eyes at the man. He was Nox Skye, another Templar, and generally a less agreeable one.

Nox only shrugged at her comment. "All will be as the Universe wills it to be."

"Indeed," Kane agreed, nodding.

Blake snorted. "You'll forgive me if the universe and I aren't on speaking terms."

"You have suffered much," Kane said quietly. "In such times, it's easy to lose faith that there's a plan beyond us."

"I never had any such faith to begin with," Blake said with a frown.

"Of course, forgive me," Kane said quietly. "It's a comfort amongst Templars, knowing that there is a purpose behind our trials, a plan that we know exists, even if we don't know all the details."

Blake sighed. "If you say so."

"Believe what you will, Miss Belladonna," Skye said, smirking. "I'm just looking forward to showing those White Fang that we don't fear them."

"They're stronger than you think," Blake said. "Underestimating them would be a bad idea."

"Perhaps," Skye said, "but strong or not, I do not fear them. They _want_ to be feared. I will not give them what they want. I will grant them only death."

"If they don't grant _you_ death first," Blake pointed out.

"Let them try," Skye said, grinning viciously.

Blake rolled her eyes.

"He's always been headstrong," Kane said quietly. "But against this enemy, his skill is invaluable, and what he lacks in grace he makes up for in loyalty."

Blake gave him a wry smile. Loyalty - a poisoned chalice. When torn between loyalty to her friend and loyalty to the White Fang, Ilia had chosen to betray Blake for the Fang, even though that meant killing Blake's family and betraying not only their friendship, but morality itself. Where was her loyalty then?

"I've found loyalty to be one of those things you can only rely on among closest friends," she finally said. "And not even then, entirely."

Kane shrugged. "As the Universe wills. Whether you choose to believe it or not, we will not fail you."

"I appreciate the sentiment," Blake said quietly. "But it's actions that speak louder than words."

"I agree," Nox Skye said with a grin. Blake raised an eyebrow at him. "It's what you do that defines you, not what you say." He gripped the hilt of his sword tighter. "Tonight, I suspect that we will say a great deal that our enemies will remember."

Blake, to her surprise, found herself nodding in agreement. "I hope you're right."


	17. Sixteen: Anniversary

**Sixteen**

 **Anniversary**

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, 5th October, year 106 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad).**

It was the anniversary of the Battle of the Wall. Potentially one of the most important conflicts of Remnant's history. Or at least of Vale's, Richard Atreus considered as he looked out the window of Team JRNE's dorm room.

Most of Remnant didn't like thinking of the Fang War as more than an 'Insurrection', which Richard had always found patently ridiculous. After all, there had been major battles in each of the four kingdoms. Many smaller villages had been evacuated - or annihilated. The Battle of the Wall was the second such battle that had occurred in Vale, a battle that had taken hundreds of Huntsmen, thousands of regular soldiers and collaboration between all four kingdoms to win. As far as Richard (and, indeed, most of Atlas) was concerned, it was patently ridiculous to call _that_ scale of conflict an 'Insurrection'.

Still, it was an excuse for the entire school to have a party, since the Battle was seen as a turning point during the Insurrection.

Richard turned away from the window as he heard Erika yawn and sit up. She blinked, before frowning at him.

"You're up?" she asked.

"Surprised?" Richard countered, smirking.

"Kind of," she said. "You know we don't _have_ to be up."

"Eh, bodyclock," Richard said, shrugging. "Fairly certain my circadian rhythms and I have a long-standing disagreement, anyway."

Erika sighed. "At least there won't be any lessons today. Could have sworn Professor Valkyrie looked disappointed when she said that."

"Professor Valkyrie is probably going to miss the opportunity to show us stuff that blows other stuff up," Richard said with a snort. "I swear that woman wants to add grenade launchers to everything. She even suggested that Atreus didn't have nearly enough stopping power."

"Imagine being _me,_ " Erika said with a smirk. She picked the dagger Edwin had made for her - which she'd decided to name Whitestone - from her bedside table. "Until recently, all I had to do in those lessons was sharpen my sword. At least now she's offering advice about where to throw the dagger for maximum effect."

Richard shrugged. "Wonder how Jo handles it."

"By punching a punching bag until it breaks during the lesson," Jo's voice responded with a tired groan as she sat up. "Do you guys have to talk so loudly? It can't be nine in the morning yet."

"Actually, it's just gone eight," Erika said, smiling at their leader.

Jo groaned, her head hitting the pillow. "Why, Gods."

"We've probably missed breakfast by now," Richard said, yawning stiffly.

In a flash, Nova was standing in the middle of the room with a tray full of breakfasts and drinks. Before anyone could say anything, a full Albion breakfast was on Richard's bedside table, an orange juice and toast was on Jo's and an extra-bacon bacon sandwich was on Erika's, alongside a mug of coffee. Before anyone could say anything, Nova had already dashed out again.

There was a moment's silence as everyone took in the presence of pretty much exactly what they would have chosen for breakfast.

"How does she do that?" Erika wondered out loud.

Jo laughed, already picking up a piece of toast. "Let's just be grateful she does."

"Here, here," Richard agreed, chuckling.

 _Well, judging by this, today is going to be… fun,_ he thought.

* * *

When the team got to the main hall, they met up with Team FATE, who apparently had already been up for a while. They were all dressed in their casual gear: Faye had tossed a long black coat over a red shirt, Tower and Guardian slung haphazardly over her shoulder, while Taylor was dressed in her usual suit, though her gloves and knuckle-dusters were on. Faye and Augur were bickering about… something, but Augur had already shut up when JRNE got to them.

"You guys okay?" Jo asked.

"Augur giving sister relationship advice," Taylor said gruffly. "Not fun conversation to listen to."

"You didn't have to listen to it," Augur pointed out, sticking his tongue out at Taylor.

"Didn't have to, did anyway," Taylor shrugged.

"You planning on hitting the practice range?" Jo asked Faye.

"Thought about it," Faye replied. "Glynda's speech isn't until - what, midday?"

"Something like that," Jo said. "It's only nine now, could go hit up some training dummies."

"Sounds fun," Faye chuckled. "Care to join me?"

"Sure," Jo said, smiling. She turned to her team. "Any of you guys wanna come?"

Richard shook his head, yawning again. "I'm going to take the opportunity of the anniversary to not do _anything_. I'm probably going to go have a nap, to be honest."

"A _nap_ ," Erika repeated. "You're still going to need to be awake for the ceremony."

"Atlesian, remember?" Richard said, winking. "Not my anniversary. I'm sure you Valesian guys will have all sorts of fun."

"It was actually a joint effort," Edwin mumbled. "Warriors from across all four kingdoms came together and held the wall."

"Indeed!" a new voice said gruffly. Richard blanched, before standing stiffly to attention as Porter Hall walked up to the group. "Soldiers from Atlas played a crucial role in the battle." The older man's expression turned coldly furious.

"Which is why, young Atreus, you will be at the ceremony."

"Yes, sir," Richard said dolefully.

Porter looked around the rest of the group, before his gaze fixed on Jo and Faye. "Going for a practice bout?"

"Yes, sir," Jo said.

"Good," the teacher said, nodding. "Preparedness is key. Diligence is essential. You must always have your skills as honed as they can be." He paused for a moment, before making a shooing motion. "Hop to it!"

Faye and Jo exchanged a glance, and then with a grin Faye led the way, Jo following. She heard Porter start berating the rest of the group.

 _Well, that's one conversation I'm glad to miss,_ she thought, smirking slightly. _And it's always nice to spend some time with Faye._

* * *

 _Dammit all!_ Faye thought as she rolled along the floor. She got to her feet, looking up to see the combat practice drone step back into its basic defensive stance. This particular drone wielded a roughly sword-shaped stun baton, the 'blade' edge an electro-shock weapon that could damage Aura.

"This is a tough one, huh?" Jo asked from the benches, where she was drinking from a bottle of water.

"It's just… _fast_!" Faye snarled, spinning Tower. "Always the damn fast ones that catch me off-guard!"

She settled into a defensive stance of her own, before advancing slowly on the drone. It shifted position, its systems recognising that she had chosen to re-enter combat, and then it dashed forward, bringing its weapon down in an overhead strike. Faye brought her shield up, Guardian taking the blow on and dispersing the shock harmlessly, before Faye stabbed forward.

The drone jumped backwards faster than her stab, though, and began a series of strikes - thrusts, hacks, slashes and spinning strikes - that were designed to force Faye back. Growling, she dodged and blocked as best she could, but once more she was overmatched - a strike knocked Tower out of her hand, and an upward slash sent Guardian spinning off toward the benches. With a final kick, the drone sent her flying backwards again, and she impacted the wall heavily.

"Faye!" Jo called, racing over to her. She held up a hand, pulling herself to her feet slowly.

"Think that'll do," she said quietly. "About done making an ass of myself, I think."

"I thought you did really well," Jo said with an encouraging smile. "I mean, you set it to max difficulty. I wouldn't last five seconds against a max difficulty drone."

"But I still lost," Faye grumbled, collecting Guardian from the floor and slinging it over her back, before trudging over to Tower. "That's just not acceptable."

Jo frowned, before taking a deep breath. "You know, you can't win 'em all."

"I know I can't," Faye said at once, almost snapping. At Jo's hurt expression, Faye sighed. "Sorry, sorry… it's… it's just that…" She struggled with the words. "It's…"

"I'm here for you," Jo said gently. "If you… y'know, if you want to talk about…"

She trailed off, and Faye couldn't help but give her a small smile.

"I guess it _is_ better to share your problems," she said quietly. "Mom and Dad always say so. Even if they're _really_ bad at sharing their problems - with me and 'Gur at least."

Jo chuckled. "Yeah, parents can be pretty bad at practicing what they preach."

Faye's smile faded slightly, and she let a breath out.

"So, Mom doesn't talk about it much," she said after a moment, "but she used to be a big deal, y'know? I told you ages back - she was a champion of some tournaments and stuff."

"I remember," Jo said softly.

"Well, it's probably pretty obvious, but I always kinda felt like that was a big deal to live up to," Faye said quietly. "I mean, they called her 'The Invincible Girl' in school."

"And you want that?" Jo asked.

"Kinda, or… I want to be that good, anyway," Faye replied, feeling a bit silly. She scratched the back of her head. "I mean, I'm not bothered about the whole reputation thing. I just want to be _good,_ you know. I want to not let Mom down."

Jo nodded slowly. "Did she… did she fight like you?"

"Sorta?" Faye said, shrugging. "Her and Dad both fought with swords and shields in the war, but then Dad lost his arm so had to go for having Crocea Mors in its two-handed form all the time, and Mom doesn't even use…" Faye blinked, struggling to remember the name of her mother's old weapons. "Y'know, it's been so long I don't even remember what she called them." She shrugged. "But yeah, I guess. Dad says I fight more like he did, though."

Jo nodded again. "I guess… one thing my Dad said to me when I was training to come here was that no two fighters have the same style." She looked at her hands. "Him and me, we're both brawlers. But him and me are massively different." She sighed. "He's really finessed and adaptable and he has all these throws and stuff. I just… I guess I just punch until the thing I'm punching stops being a thing I need to punch. But we get by." She looked back at Faye. "Maybe you need to stop worrying about being as good as your Mom. Maybe you should just be… y'know. The best _you_."

Faye chuckled. "The best me, huh? Well, I guess I still have a long way to go." She reached one arm around and hugged Jo by the shoulder. "Thanks, Jo."

"That was good advice, Miss Xiao Long," a new voice said from behind them, and both students quickly stood, to find Glynda Goodwitch standing behind them. "Surprisingly mature advice, as well."

"Professor!" Faye said. "Uh, we were just…"

"Having a conversation," Goodwitch said, smirking. "Yes, I was here for a few minutes. Quite surprising that, with most of your classmates down by the courtyard waiting for the anniversary event to begin, you two should still be in here."

Faye and Jo both glanced by a clock, and noticed that it was already nearly midday.

"Damn!" Faye swore. "We'd better get going!"

"A moment please, Miss Arc," Goodwitch said, holding up a hand. "I want you to seriously think about Miss Xiao Long's advice. After all." She looked at both girls with as serious an expression as Faye had ever seen on a person. "You are who you choose to be. Whether that is the second Pyrrha Nikos… or the first Faye Arc."

Faye nodded. "Thanks, Professor. I'll think about that one."

"I'm sure you will at some point," Goodwitch said with a wry smile. "Now run along, the pair of you."

The two girls dashed off, and Faye couldn't help but think about what Goodwitch had said. And indeed, what Jo had said.

 _The first Faye Arc,_ she thought. That didn't sound altogether bad. But she liked the way Jo had put it better. _'Be the best_ you _.'_

* * *

The courtyard was abuzz with more activity than Jaune had seen in… well, _years._ There was a single, oversized stage that had been erected in the centre of the yard, a mike set up on it. Most of Beacon's students were milling around it, talking amongst themselves and generally making a hubbub.

He sighed, looking around. Sure enough, he could see Toshiro, Porter, Nora, Bowman and others surrounding the courtyard, spaced out at sensible intervals. He looked to see if more of the other Huntsmen he'd asked to come had showed up, but he couldn't see any. They were presumably busy on other duties.

 _So few experienced Huntsmen left,_ he thought, shaking his head. A lot of older Huntsmen had died, during the Insurrection or during the years spent cleaning up after it. _Now we're stuck with less than a dozen of us keeping watch today._

Still, it seemed like it would be a good day. The sun was out, the clouds had dispersed, and so far all seemed clear. Gripping the hilt of Crocea Mors, Jaune grimaced.

 _Never assume everything will be okay,_ he thought to himself. _That's when it stops being okay._

He'd made that assumption last before the last Vytal festival had ended… he'd made that assumption about things with Pyrrha, with his team, with the world. And then it had all gone to shit.

 _But I made it right,_ he thought grimly. _I won't be so lucky a second time._

He blinked in surprise, his thoughts swerving away from the road he'd been going down, as he saw Glynda approaching from the main training area.

"Ah, Jaune," she said, approaching him with a smile. "There you are. Are things prepared?"

Jaune smiled and gave a quick mock-bow, motioning to the main stage. "The stage is yours, Headmistress."

"Thank you, Professor Arc," Glynda said with a jovial smile. As she walked past him he moved to keep step with her. "Security seems a little short-handed."

"Half my contacts didn't show," Jaune told her. "Hells, some of them didn't even respond."

"I'm not surprised," Glynda said quietly. "Still, it can't be helped." She looked at him and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Jaune. I'm sure everything will go smoothly."

As she ascended the steps to the stage, Jaune sighed.

 _I hope you're right, Glynda._

* * *

"Hey, guys!" Jo heard the voice of Nova calling. "Over here!"

The rest of teams JRNE and FATE were standing near the front of the stage when Faye and Jo got there. Richard was wearing just a shirt and a waistcoat, looking for all the world like he really, _really_ didn't want to be there. The rest of the teams looked decidedly more enthusiastic (Taylor and her usual passive expression notwithstanding).

"How was your _training_ _session_?" Augur asked, crossing his arms and giving Faye a wry grin.

"It was fine," Faye replied wearily, rolling her eyes.

Jo glanced between the two of them - was there something she was missing?

"We miss the speech yet?" Faye asked before Jo could continue her train of thought.

"Nah, Glynda's just getting up on stage," Augur said. "Wonder what the speech is gonna be like."

"Dull as sin, I just bet," Richard put in. "Officials giving speeches always are."

"Goodwitch is alright," Jo put in. "She's… been nice, when I've spoken to her."

"Oh, I'm sure she's a great Headmistress," Richard said, waving the comment off. "That doesn't mean her speeches aren't dull as dishwater."

"Glynda Goodwitch is well respected for her work," Edwin pointed out. "As a teacher, a voice for Hunters…"

"As a warrior," Taylor added.

Richard rolled his eyes. "My point, if anyone will bother listening to me, is that it doesn't matter how clever, respected, awesome, powerful or whatever a person can be. _Everyone_ who gives speeches at functions makes them dull. Even my father."

"I guess we'll find out in a minute," Faye said with an amused grin. "Here she comes."

Glynda Goodwitch strode up to the centre of the stage, meeting the microphone with precision. She looked out at the students with a serious, stern demeanour.

"Greetings, students," she said, the mike amplifying her words without making them seem overbearing. "I thank you all for attending." She paused. "Many of you are familiar, whether through your knowledge of our history, or through family experiences, with the events surrounding the Battle of the Wall. Speaking as one of the many Hunters who stood upon that wall, and faced down the Grimm horde and the White Fang, I can honestly say that it felt like the end." She smiled, raising her chin. "But it wasn't. Twenty two years ago, Huntsmen and Huntresses from across Remnant came together in the spirit of unity, to fight their common foe. That we stand on Beacon's grounds is testament to that unity, and the victory that followed…"

As Glynda spoke, Jo glanced at Erika, whose wolf-ears were twitching. She turned, a small frown on her face.

"What's wrong?" Jo whispered.

"I thought I heard something," Erika replied quietly.

"It is always the sincerest hope of teachers that their students should live in peaceful times," Glynda continued, drawing Jo's attention back to her. "A quarter of a century ago, that was not the case. Perhaps it will prove that you, too, will not see peace. Perhaps you, too, will face a battle where you feel there is no hope. But should you come to a point where you face such odds yourself, think of the Wall. Think of heroes from all lands, all creeds, coming together to defeat an implacable foe. Think on that, and hope. Think…"

She trailed off, as a low droning noise sounded. Jo glanced at Erika, whose ears were still twitching, but now everyone could hear the sound of the approaching airship.

"What in the hells?" Richard asked, his gaze travelling upward. "Is that -?"

Before he could finish the thought, there was a sound not unlike compressed air _popping_ , and a pair of large canisters landed amongst the students. Almost immediately, they began spewing thick, stinging tear gas that forced the students to run.

"Stay calm!" Glynda's voice rang out stridently. "Head to the main hall in an orderly fashion!"

The gas cleared briefly, letting Jo catch a glimpse of Glynda as she bellowed instructions to the students. However, it also let Jo catch a glimpse of a figure in dark clothes land silently next to Glynda. She reacted, turning to the figure, riding crop at the ready…

…only for him to draw a pistol and shoot her, point blank in the chest.

* * *

 **Omake 13: The Wall - Qrow.**

 **Vale City outer wall. 84 ABC.**

It was night. The rain was falling. Qrow Branwen was drunk, but found himself sobering up remarkably quickly when faced with the horde of Grimm out there. Still, another few drinks would solve that. He took a swig from his hip flask, and felt the warmth go down his gullet and into his stomach.

"Are you _always_ drunk?" an irritated voice asked him.

He blinked, frowning in confusion, before turning to face the speaker. A tall, dark haired woman was staring at him, one hand resting on the hilt of a sheathed odachi.

"Raven!" Qrow exclaimed, eyes widening. "What are you doing here?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Helping. Unfortunately."

"'Helping'," Qrow repeated. "You."

Raven scowled. "Your friend the Summer Maiden convinced Vernal that the maidens had to stand together against Cinder if they had any hope of taking her, Salem and the rest on. That being the case, I didn't want to let her fight on her own."

Qrow frowned, looking around Raven. He couldn't see any sign of the Maiden.

"She's… not here," he commented.

"Obviously," Raven said, Still scowling. "She's speaking with that boy." Her expression softened. "That's… really Ozpin?"

"Part of him," Qrow said. "Enough that I trust his judgement."

Raven sighed. "Still? He dies and you still trust him?"

" _He_ knows the enemy, you don't," Qrow snapped. "And you didn't come here to have the same damn argument you and I have been having for years. You either came to help or you didn't."

Raven swallowed. "You still haven't forgiven me."

"Never will," Qrow said shortly. "Running out on people tends to make them very… unforgiving, shall we say."

Raven sighed. "I'm here now."

"Yeah, because one of _your_ people is here, so it's finally gotten to something you feel a modicum of responsibility for," Qrow retorted. "You're not here for Yang, for me, you're not here because you believe we can win. And I bet the minute you think the battle's going badly, you'll bail and go back to wherever your tribe's camped now."

"You think so little of me," Raven said bitterly.

"Past experience might not dictate the future, at least if you listen to Kane and his philosophical rambling," Qrow said, taking another swing of his drink, "but it sure as shit helps in my experience." At Raven's conflicted expression, he sighed. "Look, stick around and actually try to help _everyone_ , and you might get more popular. But don't stand there looking like you care." He scowled. " _If_ you cared, you'd have stuck with Tai, looked in on Yang, and made yourself useful a _long_ time before tonight."

He looked away from her and back out at the field of Grimm, and he heard the soft _clacking_ of Raven's boots as she stalked away.

 _Figures,_ he thought. _Some things never change._


	18. Seventeen: Furious Angels

**Seventeen**

 **Furious Angels**

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, 5th October, year 106 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad).**

Time seemed to stand still for Jaune as he watched the bullet - no doubt some sort of Aura-piercing round - shoot through Glynda, bursting out through her back in a shower of red, only accentuated by the fog of tear-gas that still filled the courtyard, obscuring much of the surrounding area.

At once, Jaune dashed forward, Crocea Mors' short form drawn and ready immediately. The assassin seemed content to watch Glynda fall backward as Jaune charged, looking down at her with a disinterested expression - Jaune noted his nondescript features, dark hair, pale skin and plain suit. He was clearly some sort of contract killer.

Not that his identity really mattered to Jaune in the heat of the moment.

"You _bastard!_ " he screamed, swinging Crocea Mors at the assassin. At the moment where it should have made contact, however, the assassin simply ducked, sending Jaune's swing sailing through the air past where his head had been. Off-balance, Jaune could do nothing as the man shoved him backwards, before bringing his pistol to bear on Jaune.

"Banzai!" came an angry scream as Toshiro Mono suddenly leapt in, katana swinging downward in a furious arc as it knocked the pistol clean out of the assassin's hand. It clattered away.

Mono followed it up with a swing at the assasin's neck, but again the assassin ducked, before reaching behind his back and pulling out a pair of stun batons. He lashed out, forcing Toshiro to step back onto the defensive. Jaune swung at him again, but he caught the blade, twirled his wrist, pulling Jaune off-balance again, and then with a final flick sent the sword flying, before smacking Jaune across the face.

"Hold on!" came the voice of Bowman. He, Nora and Porter were dashing up to the stage.

Nora brought Magnhild up and fired a grenade at the assassin, but he rolled out of the way and the grenade exploded harmlessly in the air. Porter brought his weapon - a hand-held sonic cannon - up, but the assassin charged at him before he could fire, launching a blistering series of strikes that forced the older Huntsman on the defensive.

Nora charged up, switching Magnhild into its hammer form and swinging it at the assassin. He simply ducked the strike, before smacking Nora in the face. She stumbled back, but she grinned - the stun baton had charged her up. She spun her hammer again, but again the assassin ducked and dodged, before switching his batons off and striking her again, this time with better effect as he discombobulated her and then kicked her backwards. He turned to block a strike from Toshiro with both batons, before wrenching the katana from the other man's grip and following it up with a strike to the face and a spinning kick that sent the Huntsman flying. Bowman, meanwhile, was reaching for something in his inside pocket, but the assassin dashed up to him, stumbling him with a shoulder charge and then kicking him off the stage.

Jaune, incensed, charged at the man again, bringing his long-unused shield up. The batons spun and struck, but Jaune simply endured them, blocking with the shield, before clashing against the assassin. Concentrating, Jaune let out a battlecry, and he heard others echo the cry around him. Grinning, Jaune shoved forward with his shield against the assassin.

"You can't escape," he said. "Dunno what you thought you'd accomplish, landing in a place surrounded by Huntsmen."

"I killed my mark," the assassin retorted. "That's enough for me."

Suddenly the assassin pushed Jaune's shield down, slamming man and shield both into the ground, before somersaulting over the Huntsman and landing behind him. Spinning both batons, he turned just as Jaune recovered, before lashing at both sides of Jaune simultaneously. Jaune blocked one baton with the shield and took the other on his metal arm. Grimacing, he turned and grabbed the baton - only for the assassin to reactivate the charge and send a powerful electric shock coursing through Jaune's body.

Screaming in pain, Jaune collapsed to his knees. The assassin dropped the baton Jaune had grabbed and casually spun the other one, and Jaune realised that the other teachers weren't still in the fight - the man's strikes had been precise and deadly, designed to take them out quickly. No - not to take them out - to temporarily disable.

 _Designed to hold us off while he waits for his evac,_ Jaune thought dimly as the man picked up his Aura-buster pistol and walked back to Jaune. _Definitely a contract killer. Clever. Methodical, even. Damn._

"I got paid for Goodwitch," the man said blandly. "But I bet they'll pay extra for the great Jaune Arc." He cocked the gun and gave a crooked smile. "Say goodnight."

He aimed the gun - and then was sent flying by a red-headed blur carrying a shield. Jaune blinked as he realised his daughter was standing over him, looking incredibly pissed off.

"Goodnight," she hissed. "You fucking _asshole_."

* * *

When Glynda had fallen, moving almost in slow motion, Jo hadn't known how to react. She had never seen anyone die before, and she felt something in her gut just… hollow out. For a moment, the world seemed to become quieter, as though everything but the spray of blood and the falling body had disappeared from the world.

"What in the hells?!" Richard exclaimed, and suddenly Jo was back in the field.

Her entire team looked shocked. Nova looked absolutely horrified. Erika was growling, moving forward, but Richard had held out a hand at once to stop her.

"None of us are armed," he said, his voice wavering but still firm. "We'd need to get our gear."

"Won't work!" Edwin said from next to them, his eyes wide as he tapped the scroll. "There's some sort of signal block in place!"

"This was well-planned," Taylor said grimly. She already had her knuckle dusters on. "Fortunately, some of us don't need to call for weapons."

As they quickly debated, teachers began engaging the assassin - but it became clear that this murderer, whoever he was, was skilled enough to hold his own against them all. Jo knew her team were itching to get involved - but as Richard had pointed out, most of them weren't armed. They hadn't expected to need to be.

"Alright," she said quietly after a split second's consideration. She glanced at Faye and Taylor. "You two are with me. You're armed, you can help."

"What about us?" Erika asked.

"Get to wherever your weapons are, get them and get back here," Jo said. "We'll… hopefully still be here."

 _And alive,_ she added silently. Erika nodded and she the rest of JRNE and FATE headed off as Jo, Taylor and Faye turned to face the stage. The assassin had just sent Toshiro Mono flying, and was walking up to Professor Arc.

"Need a plan of attack," Taylor said quietly from behind Jo.

The assassin raised his pistol.

"I have one," Faye said, her expression thunderous. "Attack."

And in a bound, she leapt up and sent the assassin rolling across the stage, stopping him from shooting the Professor. Jo bounded up as Faye finished muttering something.

"Are you alright, Professor?" she asked quietly.

Arc shook his head, getting to one foot. "Aura's probably depleted. This guy's good. You kids won't be able to -"

Before he could finish the sentence, a gunshot rang out, slamming into his leg. He let out a stifled grunt of pain and fell to one knee, and then the assassin was in amongst the students.

Almost immediately, Jo was sent flying backwards by a kick so fast she almost couldn't see it. She landed about seven feet away from the fight, and, winded, she could only watch for a few moments as Taylor and Faye were left to fight the assassin alone.

Taylor tried using the same deft, adaptable strikes that she had used in every fight Jo had seen her in, but where those strikes would confound Jo and send her stumbling backwards, the assassin simply blocked the strikes, before lashing out with a stun baton. Taylor managed to block the first strike, but the second hit her in the gut, sending her sprawling back. The assassin blocked a strike from Faye, kicking her backwards, and then returned to Taylor, smacking her across the face before kicking her off the stage, where she landed heavily on the grass.

"Bastard!" Faye yelled. Jo pulled herself to her feet and charged at the assassin just as Faye started lashing out, but he simply dodged their strikes. One move whacked Jo in the face, and Faye blocked another with Guardian. Growling, she lashed out with Tower as Jo launched a series of punches, but the man blocked the punches, his head dodging backwards as Faye's sword passed within centimetres of his nose. He stepped back, adopting a fighting stance as Jo and Faye squared off against him.

"You know," he said, glancing at his watch, "I don't generally make a point of killing kids."

"We keeping you from something?" Faye sneered.

"Nope," the man said. "You stopped me getting a bonus, but to be honest I get paid reasonably well anyway."

"You killed Glynda for money?" Jo growled.

"Why else does anyone worth a damn kill anyone?" the assassin asked. He chuckled. "Now, ladies, if you'll excuse me."

Suddenly, the roaring of an airship could once again be heard, and a rope slipped from the tear-gas filled sky, the end dangling near the assassin. With a grin, he grabbed it, yanked once, and then was hoisted into the air.

"No!" Faye growled, dashing forwards, but she was already too late as the man disappeared into the fog, which cleared somewhat as the engine of an airship blew it away.

"Look out!" someone called out, and suddenly a small black object flew from the grass and slammed against the hull of the airship. Unperturbed, it flew off, carrying its cargo of an assassin and whatever accomplices he had with him.

Jo looked to see who'd thrown the object, and found herself facing Delilah Nacht of Team DSTY, a grim expression on her face.

"Delilah!" she exclaimed.

"Hi," Delilah replied tersely, bringing her gauntlet up.

"What was that thing you threw?" Faye asked. "One of those explody daggers you carry around or something?"

"Not quite," Delilah said. She looked around as the tear gas began dissipating. Many of the students were in shock, injured or confused. "Damn."

Jo looked around, feeling a wave of despair flooding her. "Oh no."

She turned to look at where Glynda had fallen. Dr Bowman was already kneeling by her, and he looked up.

"Students, you need to get to safety or brace yourselves," he said quietly. "This event may cause Grimm to be attracted to the school."

Behind Jo, Delilah nodded, turning away and dashing off. Jo only had eyes for Glynda Goodwitch, whose wide, staring eyes were looking in the direction of the sky, but seeing… nothing.

"Aura-piercing round," Bowman whispered. "Those were _outlawed_. Whoever this assassin was…"

"We've got to catch him," Faye said vehemently. "There's got to be some way we can -"

Bowman held up a hand. "Most of the teachers are injured. Even I'm not at one hundred percent, and I barely got a shot in." He grimaced. "There's no way normal police will be able to take on this assassin, but -"

"We can catch him," Delilah said, coming up behind Jo and Faye again. "I've told my team to work with the other teams on securing Beacon's defence." She looked to Jo and Faye. " _We_ can catch the assassin."

"Really?" Bowman asked, clearly sceptical. "How do you plan on doing that, Miss Nacht?"

Delilah smiled, and then the roar of an airship came in from above them. Jo, her cape flapping around her, looked up, to see one of Beacon's own supply of airships floating above them.

"I asked for a ride," Delilah said.

* * *

Hercule Strong sighed as he slumped against the chair of his own personal Bullhead. The old airship was, in his opinion, far more reliable than… what were these new ones even called? Pumas? Chupa-thingies?

 _Whatever,_ he thought. _They're still dogshite. Why you'd swap an old model with an inferior replacement I'll never know..._

"How'd it go, Herc?" his pilot asked cheerfully, interrupting his musings.

Hercule sighed. The guy wasn't exactly his first choice of pilot, but in Hercule's line of work he couldn't exactly afford to be picky.

Then again…

"It went well," Hercule said, walking into the cockpit. He grabbed the pilot's head and snapped his neck in a clean motion, before moving the corpse and sitting in the now-vacated pilot's chair with ease. He took the controls and smirked slightly. "Shame you missed it."

Sure, killing pilots was probably bad for his work rep on some level, but hey, he'd just killed _Glynda Goodwitch_ of all people. That was bound to push his asking price up astronomically the next time someone wanted to hire him for a job (killing big names tended to do that).

 _This has been a pretty successful day,_ he thought with a smirk.

* * *

Inside the Beacon airship, Delilah pulled up a display. "I put a tracker on that guy's ride. He's heading towards Vale City, but we should catch up to him soon."

Jo and Faye exchanged glances, before Jo addressed Delilah. "So… uh, what about our pilot?"

The pilot was a cheerful looking boy with long, scraggly hair, scruffy grey robes and a wooden staff that he had leant against the co-pilot seat. He had given them all a cheerful wave but hadn't said much.

"Alfie's a friend with a pilot license," Delilah said with a shrug. She checked her gauntlet. "Bank left. He's heading towards the city centre, probably making for one of the abandoned warehouse districts opposite"

"Right," 'Alfie' called back. "Hang on back there!"

Delilah looked to Faye and Jo. "Any idea on tactics?"

Jo shrugged. "This guy took out fully trained Huntsmen like they were nothing. Best bet is coordination and the element of surprise."

"Difficult," Delilah said, rolling her shoulders. One hand went to her katana hilt. "But we're all we've got."

"We're all we'll need," Faye said with a scowl. "We'll take that bastard down for what he did."

Jo cracked her knuckles, feeling a knot of tension in her stomach. Were they ready for this? But with a stark sense of what could only be described as fatalistic gloom, she realised that ready or not, they were about to go into this battle.

 _Well,_ she thought. _Shit._

* * *

Hercule frowned as he flew his Bullhead over the city centre. His readout was showing another small airship tailing him,.

 _That shouldn't have been possible,_ he thought irritably. Maybe one of the teachers had gotten a tracking device on him? Growling in frustration, he tilted his angle. The Central City Park was nearby, that would be an ideal place to land and get himself suitably sequestered from sight.

The Park was reasonably empty today, which was a blessing for landing but a curse for concealment. Still, he could worry about that when he was landed. Setting down the Bullhead was easy enough - there were plenty of open spaces after all.

 _Right then, Hercule,_ he thought, cracking his knuckles. _Where's a good place to make a run for it?_

He began jogging away from his Bullhead, heading towards a small wood in the park that was perfect for his hiding needs. Unfortunately, at that moment the airship that had been pursuing him chose to fly over, and a woman - no, a _girl_ , no older than seventeen - landed in front of him. She wore dark armour and was drawing a katana and aiming it at him.

"You're under arrest," she said sternly. "You have the right to remain silent."

Hercule let out a short 'heh' sound. "That right?"

The girl gave a small, confident smile, before settling into a combat stance. Hercule heard the sound of two more landings behind him - one with the unmistakable ruffling of a cape, another with the clatter of metal hitting the ground.

 _Two more opponents,_ he thought, _and if Little Miss Confident Kid is the one who confronted me, she's likely not brought backup bigger than her._ He spared a glance behind him, and noted the girl with the sword and shield who'd knocked him about a bit, as well as the girl in the blue jumpsuit and red cape. _Right._

"You know, I don't kill kids on a normal day," he said calmly. "Much as I wouldn't mind, no one's paying me to kill you and you're all pretty unimportant - I won't get anything out of it."

"Is this you asking us to go easy on you?" sword-and-shield girl asked.

Hercule's eye twitched. "Okay. Now you done it."

And suddenly he was standing where she had been, the girl flying backward through the air. The girl with the cape had maybe a second to watch with horror, before he grabbed her and threw her to the ground. He brought his foot up, but before he could bring it down on her head, Miss Confident Kid had slammed into him, before attacking with her katana.

Sneering, Hercule dodged her strikes. She was good - no question of it - but he was faster, more experienced, and had the advantage that he wasn't holding back. She stabbed forward with her sword, and he responded by grabbing the blade, yanking it and her forward, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her up.

"This was a bit of a tactical booboo on your part," he said with a wicked grin.

With a grunt of effort, he threw her backwards too, before glancing at his hand. Though his Aura had prevented the worst of the damage, his hand was still bleeding. He sighed.

"How about a face to match that hand?!" an angry voice bellowed from behind him.

Hercule looked up, to see shield-girl and her friends charging at him again. He sidestepped their charge, putting a leg out to trip cape-girl while he was at it. She went flying, landing in a heap.

Shield-girl managed to stop herself, and she growled, before back-swinging her blade at Hercule. He ducked, and she brought the sword down in a vertical strike. He dodged backwards. She lunged forward to try and hit him with a shield bash. He blocked the worst of the force with his arm, only backsliding a little.

She followed this up with another downward hack, and he sidestepped it, before kicking out at her feet, making her lose her balance and fall forward. He caught her chest with his foot and kicked her up in the air, before punching her back to the ground harder.

"You just don't know when you're outmatched, do ya?" he asked blandly. "I've known a few Hunters like you. That's the problem with your lot - you all think that going to a fancy school, sparring a bit and then killing a few dumb demon-animals makes you a big shot. Newsflash." He picked her up by the back of her neck, and she grimaced in pain. "You guys aren't all that. You're not even a bit of that. I just killed one of you like _fuck all._ I just kicked the rest of your teachers' assess." He grinned. "So how about I give you a free lesson." He punched her once in the gut. "It isn't training that makes you better." A second punch. "It isn't some fancy school." A third punch, and this time the girl's Aura fizzled out. He'd broken it. He gave her a fourth, and she yelled in pain. "It's experience. Getting your ass handed to you. Getting kicked to the curb. Being lucky enough to survive it. Being smart enough to know when to avoid it next time. _That's_ how you learn. That's how you get stronger."

He gave one final punch, and this time the girl spat blood when she yelled. Hercule grimaced.

 _Maybe I overdid it,_ he thought. He shrugged. _Nah._

He threw her to the ground, where she landed in a clenched-up heap, groaning in pain. Dusting his hands off, he turned - only to see cape-girl staring at the fallen girl with wide eyes, not more than three feet away from him.

"What?" Hercule asked, feeling a little irritated. _She's not even trying. And this is supposed to be the next generation of Hunter. Gimme a break_. "Never seen someone beaten to a pulp before, Kid?"

She looked from her fallen friend to Hercule, her blue eyes still wide, but an odd twitch developing, like barely suppressed rage. Hercule tensed slightly: she was going to attack him in anger in a moment, he could tell, and that usually meant wide, wild attacks that could pack punch but usually lacked skill.

 _Best not to be too cocky,_ he thought. _Even kids can hide weird shit in their semblances._

"You… hurt… my friend," she said, her voice a hushed whisper. "You. Hurt. Her."

Hercule frowned. The twitch had vanished, as indeed had most of the emotion in the girl's face. Her fists had clenched, the knuckles whitening as her rage seemed to focus itself.

"I won't let you…" she hissed, taking a single step forward. "I won't let you get away with…"

 _Alright, enough indulging of the annoying kidlet,_ Hercule thought. He dashed forward, bringing his fist up to smack her right in the face…

...only for her hand to catch his fist with ease, the girl not even budging. She looked at him with her cold blue eyes… and then they slowly shifted, turning to an empty, icy metallic colour.

 _Oh,_ he thought, realising what he was facing. _Motherfucker._

* * *

Jo felt her rage, as a wellspring under her skin, her energy bleeding through, her mind focused on _enemy enemy murderer target tango destroy eliminate_

He stepped back, and she released his fist as he seemed to assess her.

"So you're one o' those weird-eyed freaks, huh?" he said, moving into a guard stance. "Heard rumours. Ruby Rose was one, right?"

She ignored him, instead pacing around him, aiming for the optimum moment.

 _One target, male, human, no additional traits detected, semblance unconfirmed, high agility, highly dangerous physical combatant._ A quick glance confirmed that he had no _visible_ weapons, but that didn't mean that he didn't have something up his sleeve. _Extreme caution to be taken. Capturing target unlikely._ She brought her hands together and cracked her knuckles. _Terminate with extreme prejudice._

The man was tensed, on guard against whatever move she made. Sensible, which meant even though he had dispatched her comrades with ease he wasn't taking her lightly.

 _Experienced,_ she assessed. _Likely used to engaging a wide variety of opponents. Knew best way to take out entire team of experienced hunters, so clearly used to diverse styles and methods. Adjust strategy accordingly._

Feinting to the left, Jo suddenly dashed forward, her right fist slamming into the man's jaw. She followed this up with a punch to the gut, followed by a kick to the shin that sent him down on one knee. She swung her left fist for his face, but he brought his arm up, blocking her arm, and grabbed her arm with his other hand and threw her in the other direction.

Rolling, Jo somersaulted back into a fighting stance, before charging at him again. She knew she had to keep him off-balance, constantly on the defensive, or he would be able to get the upper hand and escape or incapacitate her. _Can't let target regain initiative. Only way to ensure victory with minimal risk of collateral or failure._

She swung a wild left haymaker at him that he easily blocked, but that move enabled her to step inside his guard and elbow him in the solar plexus. Winded, he stumbled backward, and she unleashed a barrage of punches into his chest designed to break Aura and ribs alike. She saw his Aura begin to buckle under the pressure, but it hadn't dissipated yet. Grimacing, he managed to catch her fists, but all she did was backflip while still being held, kicking him in the face and freeing herself in the process, before taking her stance back up.

He started laughing. "Oh, this is definitely more interesting than your friends were. Where'd you learn all this skill, huh?"

Jo didn't reply. _Target attempting psychological warfare. Attempt to appeal to emotions in order to cause imbalanced assault. Readjust strategy._

Instead of speaking, she simply charged again, swinging her fists at him. This time, he was more prepared, blocking her first two strikes with ease. Changing up her style, she kicked out, using Mistrali martial arts moves that Taiyang had taught her. He managed to dodge her first kick, but her second, a sweeping spin-kick, sent him off balance. She spun around, sweeping his feet out from under him, and followed this up, moving faster than sight, with a strike with her elbow to his stomach while he was still in mid-air that sent him sprawling to the ground, flat on his back.

Not letting up, she kicked him in his side, hearing a rib crack as his Aura finally gave out. She crouched over him, bringing her fists to bear, and began pummelling him in the face.

 _Terminate target with extreme prejudice._

One punch. His head jerked back as he tried to move.

 _Terminate target with_ extreme _prejudice._

Two punches. The skin split open.

 _Terminate._

Three. His nose began bleeding, an audible crack signalling that she had broken the bone.

 _Terminate._

Four. Another crack, likely a cheekbone.

 _Terminate!_

Five. He spat blood, his eyes puffy and bruised from her strikes.

 _TERMINATE!_

She raised her fists to keep pummelling…

 _Cough._

She froze. _Faye. Faye's hurt._

Without sparing another glance at the downed assassin, she got off him and raced to her wounded friend's side.

"J-Jo?" Faye said weakly as Jo knelt by her. "W-where's…"

"I beat him," Jo said quietly. "He's down."

It was true enough. The assassin seemed to be out for the count for real, simply lying on the grass, bleeding and moaning softly in pain.

Faye coughed, blood leaking from her mouth, and she looked up at Jo. She blinked, almost as if in surprise, and then gave a weak chuckle.

"Ssh, shh, careful," Jo said anxiously, unsure what to do. "You… you're hurt, you need to…"

"Jo," Faye said quietly, looking up at her. "You…"

"I what?" Jo asked, feeling panicky. She could hear the sound of sirens in the distance, which had to mean someone was on the way to help, but she was suddenly terrified that they'd be too late.

Faye was still smiling, almost incredulously, and what she said next shook Jo up more than she could possibly imagine.

"You have silver eyes."


	19. Eighteen: Uncertainty

**Eighteen**

 **Uncertainty**

* * *

 **Vale City, 5th October, year 106 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad).**

When Dr Bowman got to the scene where Delilah Nacht had finally called in proper evac, he was shocked at what he found.

The assassin was mumbling incoherently, likely concussed from what looked like the pummelling of the century. His nose was broken, and a cursory physical examination showed that more than a few of his ribs had joined it. Sitting a few metres away from him was Jo Xiao Long, who was sat next to Faye Arc as paramedics slowly shifted her onto a gurney to be airlifted to hospital. Her injuries seemed similar to the assassin's, though Bowman could tell that hers had been more methodically delivered.

Jo Xiao Long, unlike the other two girls, was uninjured. Delilah Nacht, who was currently giving a statement to the authorities, was limping and bruised, but Jo seemed unhurt. Her blank expression told a different story, however.

Bowman walked up to her and sat in front of her. "Miss Xiao Long?" No response. "Jo?"

She looked slowly up at him. "Hello, Dr Bowman."

He didn't let the shock reach his expression, but where once Jo Xiao Long had had beautiful blue eyes, they were now a distinctive, almost luminescent silver.

"Well," he said quietly. "I can see there's something of a story to tell."

"I…" Jo didn't say anything else, her voice cracking with emotion. Instead, she slumped slightly.

Bowman sighed. _This… is going to be one hell of a thing to explain to Jaune._

* * *

 **Vale Central Hospital, 8th October.**

When Faye's eyes opened, she blinked when she realised there were about seven - no, _exactly_ seven people standing by her bedside. Taylor at the back of the group with her hands in her pockets. Edwin looking up from a book, a little smile gracing his face. Augur, sat by her left side with a worried expression. Richard and Erika standing at one corner of her bed, looking concerned. Nova, her arms folded as she napped in a chair. And…

"Jo," she said, looking at the girl sat to her right. "What… what are you guys…"

"You're awake," Jo said softly. "Oh thank the Gods. I was so scared."

"I… what happened?" Faye asked.

Jo looked away from her, shamefaced.

"What happened," Augur put in, sending at once relieved and furious, "is that you, you reckless _idiot,_ decided to take on an assassin who killed _Glynda Goodwitch_ of all people, _and_ took out pretty much all the teachers in Beacon, and you didn't even take me with you!"

Faye blinked as he finished his tirade. "Huh." She paused. "Did we win, then?"

Augur groaned and put his head in his hands, and the rest of the group - Jo aside - laughed, confident that Faye would be alright. For herself, Faye was still more worried about Jo, who still wasn't looking at her.

"Jo?" she whispered. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Jo replied without looking at her. "You're the one who was hurt."

"Yeah, but…" Faye said, but Jo just held up a hand and finally met her eyes, smiling softly.

Faye blinked, realising that she hadn't been imagining it before. Jo's eyes had turned from their old blue colour to a shining, metallic silver colour. She looked more like Ruby Rose than ever.

"I'm just glad you're okay," Jo said quietly.

Faye smiled back at her. "I'm glad _you're_ okay."

Jo's smile didn't change, but something in her eyes shifted. "Yeah."

 _Okay then,_ Faye thought, feeling an unsettled feeling in her chest. _I guess that means we'll be having a conversation about all this at some point._ She looked to the others as they started asking questions, and tried not to feel the weight of her own misgivings. _Why do I get the feeling this is just the start of something?_

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, 15th October.**

Standing in the Headmistress' office, looking out over Beacon, Jaune let out a sigh. He had never been so glad for the school to reach half-term holidays. Truth be told, he'd moved the two-week break for the students forward by a week, but he felt like it was necessary. The last week, according to pretty much every teacher, had been an incredibly tiring experience for everyone, and none of them had really gained anything from lessons delivered by injured, dejected teachers. It was only a miracle that Grimm hadn't swarmed the school.

This office… Glynda's office… felt so cold and empty, now, like some great fire had gone out and would never come back. He gave a short, harsh laugh. That was _exactly_ what had happened.

"Jaune?" a voice asked from behind him.

Jaune turned, to see Richard Bowman standing there, hands in his coat pockets.

Jaune gave the history teacher a small smile. "Hey, doc."

Bowman snorted. "Now I know you're not alright. No one calls me 'doc'." His expression softened. "Alright, seriously. How are you doing?"

Jaune grimaced. "Glynda's dead. I failed. How do you think I'm doing?!"

He turned away, feeling ashamed of himself for his outburst.

"I know it's difficult," Bowman said quietly. "Gods know, you know loss better than a lot of us. But you should also know that we can't afford to mourn forever; we have to keep pushing forward."

"I know," Jaune said quietly. "And at least we're able to bring her killer to justice."

"Her killer, yes," Bowman said quietly. "Not, perhaps, the person responsible for her death.

Jaune turned back to look at him. "You think there's someone else behind it."

Bowman snorted again, before pulling out his scroll and pulling up an image of the assassin. "Hercule Strong. Wanted in every Kingdom for being a hired killer. We're talking about a man who Nox Skye wants the head of on a silver platter, but we're _not_ talking about a man who puts himself in danger unless someone pays him a _lot_ of money."

"Hired killer," Jaune said, nodding. "Thought as much."

"So, the real question is," Bowman said, outing his scroll away, "who hired him?"

Jaune gave a small smile. "That _is_ the question. But we'll find the answer. I promise you that."

Bowman nodded slowly. "Alright. What about Jo Xiao Long?"

Jaune's smile faded slightly. "That… is gonna be a different issue."

* * *

The start of the holidays meant that those students who'd elected to do so were already heading for the helipad to await their airship home. Jo found herself feeling a host of different emotions as she waited in line.

' _You have silver eyes._ ' What did that mean? Was it something to do with her heritage? She sighed. _I suppose I'll find out soon enough._

She hadn't said more than cursory goodbyes to most of her team - Richard and Nova were both staying over the break to practice (and besides, Nova's mother was still going to be here over the holidays). Team FATE she hadn't even seen - she assumed Taylor and Edwin had gone on one of the earlier airship rides, and she assumed Augur and Faye would be -

"Jo! Hey, Jo!"

Blinking in surprise, Jo turned as Faye raced up to her. The girl was already pretty much recovered from her injuries, a slight wince as she jogged notwithstanding.

"Faye?" Jo asked. "Are you -"

Faye shut her up by throwing her arms around her in perhaps one of the strongest non-Taiyang hugs Jo had ever experienced. Then Faye stepped back, her expression thunderous.

"You were going to leave without saying goodbye, weren't you?" she asked darkly.

Jo winced. "Uh… maybe? I didn't -"

"If you say the words 'I didn't want to bother you,' so help me I will smack you," Faye said sternly. Jo's mouth snapped shut, and she wisely decided against speaking. Faye nodded. "Better."

"But…" Jo said, "I just… I don't know. So many questions have been thrown up while I've been here."

"And you don't know how to deal, I know," Faye said, smiling. "But that's not a reason to avoid people, you dunce." She held up a warning finger. "You'd better message me like _all the time_. Or there will be hell to pay, got it?"

Jo nodded. "Got it." She paused, looking out at Beacon. It seemed smaller, somehow. "I still can't believe…"

"Glynda," Faye said, cutting her off. "Me neither. It doesn't seem right, y'know?"

"Yeah," Jo said, and she felt her eyes narrow. "I'd love to know who hired that guy."

"I guess we'll never know," Faye shrugged. "Unless Dad tells me, but he doesn't tell me and 'Gur _anything_ these days."

Jo nodded, a rueful smile on her face. "Oh well. At least we've got the half term holiday."

Faye snorted. "Great, two weeks to wreck every training drone here." She smirked. "What are you gonna do over the holidays?"

"Well," Jo said, "I'm probably gonna rest, for a while." She smiled. "And then, at some point, I guess I get to find out who I am."

Faye snorted. "You know who you are, dummy."

"Oh?" Jo asked.

Faye gave her a beaming smile. "You're who you choose to be. And don't you forget it."

Jo smiled back, feeling a sudden wave of euphoria. On impulse, she hugged Faye again.

"I'll miss you," she whispered in Faye's ear.

"Pfft, not if I text you every day a squillion times," Faye rejoined, but she kept the hug up.

Jo closed her eyes.

 _I am who I choose to be,_ she thought. _And right now, I don't think I'd wanna be anyone else._


	20. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

* * *

 **Jordis Program Compound, 25th October, year 106 ABC (After the Battle of Calenhad).**

When Officer Clementine noted the results her computer had recorded, she hadn't believed it at first. One of the first things her predecessor had told her before he had retired from military service was that her job - monitoring images and news reports for certain key-phrases and images - was essentially useless. He hadn't even clearly explained what she was sifting for, which was frustrating because Clementine generally preferred knowing exactly what she was doing. Still, the system knew what it was looking for, and today, it had apparently found it.

"There's an alert?" a stern voice asked from behind her. Clementine stiffened at the sound of her superior's voice, but she didn't turn around.

"Yes sir," she said. She brought up a display. A CCTV image from Vale City came up, showing a girl with black hair and a blue jumpsuit near the wreck of a train from July. "This girl came up on our system before, but now she's matched with these images."

Another image came up - the same girl fighting a man in a smart suit in Vale's Central City Park. This time, the girl was wearing a red cape.

"Do we have other angles of this second image?" her superior asked.

Clementine inputted a series of commands, and a second image - from the back this time - came up.

"Enhance the face on the first image," her superior instructed, "and the back of the cape."

Clementine did as she was told, though she frowned slightly at the confusing request. The girl's face was an impassive, emotionless mask. The cape, on the other hand, was apparently made from a smooth red material, marred only by a golden 'J' embroidered on the back.

"Enhance the face - I need to see the eyes," her superior ordered.

"Yes, sir," Clementine said, running an enhancement program. The girl's features sharpened considerably, and Clementine frowned. "That…"

"It's her," her superior said.

"Sir?" Clementine asked.

"Scramble Subject Eight," her superior ordered, "and order her to prepare for a recon and retrieval mission. I want a facial scan on that girl - I want name, home address and current place of work or education as soon as humanly possible."

Clementine nodded. "Yes, sir, at once."

Her superior stalked away, and Clementine let out a breath, frowning slightly at the image of the girl.

 _Who in the hells is this girl?_ she wondered. _And why does she have silver eyes?_


End file.
